The New Dawn
by Shane C
Summary: The Ellimist and Crayak decide it's time to settle the score, once and for all. The gang is back, including Rachel, and now they're fighting for a lot more than the human race. Complete! Sequel, The Kelbrid Wars, currently in the works.
1. Prologue

(You rigged the game, Ellimist,) Crayak accused.

The Ellimist laughed in his booming, everywhere-at-once voice and replied, (How is this so? You wanted the Yeerks to take Earth. I wanted to stop them. I guided the five humans and the Andalite to see possibilities, as per our rules. You assume that six primitives succeeding against an entire empire must mean there was cheating involved, when you know that's not the case. You're being a sore loser, Crayak.)

Crayak swelled at the insult, but did not explode, did nothing physical to the Ellimist. He was unable to restrain himself entirely, however, and made a star in a remote, insignificant corner of the galaxy go nova. The Ellimist did not chide Crayak, though. It bent the rules of their game, but Crayak's anger was insatiable. Something had to be done before Crayak threw borders and boundaries to the wind and went after the Ellimist, resulting in another cataclysmic clash of their powers, destroying billions of sentients in the process. (I know humans as well as you do, Ellimist. You know they are a people of passion, and that is their weakness! You know that without interference, the one called Jake would never sacrifice his own cousin and brother! Not even to save the entire race!)

(And how would you have it, Crayak? If I keep letting you change and modify our rules, soon you will be doing whatever you see fit with nothing to hold you back! I am reasonable, unlike you. You want a rematch? How would you have it work?)

(My Howlers are useless now, and I concede that I lost the battle between your Animorphs and my children, fair and square. I enjoyed that competition, however. A few players of yours verses a few of mine is a fine sort of entertainment, indeed. Why not raise the stakes?)

The Ellimist was intrigued. (What do you have in mind, Crayak?)

(Your Animorphs and my faithful Yeerks, including the One, are about to destroy each other,) Crayak said, gesturing to the point in space and time where the two dominant beings had frozen their most recent battle, right before the Animorphs and Yeerks had their ultimately fatal collision. (It would be a waste to let our loyal soldiers annihilate each other. I propose that we stop being subtle and be as direct as we can, according to the rules, of course,) Crayak said the last part mockingly. (You pick a race anywhere in the galaxy, and I do the same. We each then pick one individual from that race, who will be the prize piece, the King of our chess game.)

(My King would be anonymous to you, and yours to me, I presume,) the Ellimist said, possibly even more interested than before.

(Yes. Exactly,) Crayak responded, more excited than before. (You send some diplomats to your chosen race, and I will do the same. Now, these are the rules. We can only speak to our respective races through our diplomats. No direct contact.)

(Acceptable,) the Ellimist stated. (Next rule?)

(When we choose our races, their planets must be relatively close to one another. I will not wait around forever, Ellimist,) Crayak snarled as he sensed a protest from his nemesis. (The point of this new game is to gain finality.)

(Fine,) the Ellimist calmed Crayak. (What are the victory conditions of this…new game?)

(If your chosen King dies, you lose. That rule is the same for me. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I want an all-out war to result from our diplomats' messages.)

(Yes, Crayak. I had guessed. So, you want a war? What a surprise. Already I am bored with your new game,) the Ellimist said.

(One difference in this game, old 'friend,') Crayak sneered. (You think I am a blood-thirsty, war-mongering savage. This is not untrue. I think of you as a peace-loving fool. As we have let these characteristics dominate our past skirmishes, I suggest we do the same here, only more directly.)

(Both of these races will be reasonable, Ellimist. Capable of independent thought. Able to choose between war and peace. After the messages are delivered, our diplomats can play any role they choose in this new conflict. Your diplomats will be allowed to contact my chosen race, if they so choose.)

(I begin to see,) said the Ellimist. (If open war occurs, resulting in the death of one or both of our Kings, you are more likely to win.)

(Yes,) said Crayak. (But if your diplomats are able to outwit or outfight mine, peace and prosperity could possibly reign between our new chosen peoples. In which case, I lose and you win. Forever.)

(What will be the penalty for losing?) the Ellimist asked.

(Permanent exile,) Crayak announced. (If you lose, you must leave both this timeline and this galaxy, never to return. It would be all mine to play whatever games I choose. If I lose, I will leave, back to where I came from, and will most likely be destroyed.)

The Ellimist thought it over for a long time. In a normal timeline, it would have been millions of years before Crayak received an answer. But for these two beings, time was meaningless. Either one could have made a second last a billion years or the other way around.

(I accept the terms of your game under the condition that we agree on each other's choice of diplomats,) the Ellimist responded.

(Name your champions,) Crayak bellowed, ecstatic that the evasive Ellimist had finally agreed on a way to settle the score permanently. (Seven was the number for the last engagement of ours, I think that will suffice for this competition as well.)

(The humans, Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Marco, and the Andalite, Aximili-Isthill-Esgarrouth,) the Ellimist replied instantly.

(Predictable,) Crayak grumbled. (You have only named five, and that is because you expect me to object to your last two.)

The Ellimist nodded. (Who would you trade for me to include the human, Rachel?)

Crayak considered. (Forget the girl, Ellimist. She is dead, she is gone. Pick another.)

(I agreed to all of your conditions, Crayak. Do not forget I am allowing several rules to be broken in order to give you this competition that you so desire. Is one human girl too much to ask?)

(I suppose I could let you have the girl. She is a brave warrior, worthy of another chance,) Crayak conceded. (But in exchange for her, I will have two Howlers. Two _untainted_ Howlers.)

(Done!) the Ellimist agreed. (And the last one…in order to receive him, I should only have to exchange _one _champion, Crayak. I want Elfangor.)

(You must think me stupid,) Crayak sneered again. (Tobias' father? Aximili's brother? All of your champions would be strengthened tenfold by his inclusion. No deal. Never.)

The Ellimist sighed, but it was a battle he didn't expect to win. (I will send Toby Hamee with them, then.)

(Your diplomats are chosen, Ellimist. Hear mine,) Crayak said. (In addition to my two Howlers, I will send Visser One.)

The Ellimist considered. (You may send him, but not in Alloran's body. And if I win, he will go right back to his prison on Earth.)

Crayak actually smiled. (Ellimist, if you win, you can toss him into the sun if you wish. I will not be able to stop you.)

The Ellimist did not smile back. (He will go back to his prison. I do not interfere unless I must, Crayak. I do not like playing games with sentient lives.)

(Very well,) Crayak responded. (I will also have Efflit 1318 and Efflit 2230.)

(Pool-mates, among the most ruthless of the Yeerks,) the Ellimist commented. (I accept.)

(Last of all, I want the human Chapman and the Andalite Teneel-Protolas-Hendreish,) Crayak stated.

The Ellimist understood the decision to send Chapman. Even after years of being enslaved by the Yeerks, he was still power-hungry and ruthless, an anomoly in human psyche. But he had to search to find this Teneel Andalite, and when he did, the Ellimist was appalled as he read the creature like a book and shocked that he'd never felt the Andalite's burning hatred and bloodlust, not unlike Crayak himself. (You've been hiding Teneel-Protolas-Hendreish from me,) the Ellimist accused.

(Have I?) Crayak challenged. (Or have your powers so diminished that you can't pick anomolies out anymore?)

(It matters not,) the Ellimist snapped. (After this, nothing will matter to one of us. I am ready when you are, Crayak.)

Crayak laughed. (This has been long in coming, Ellimist. Let it begin.)


	2. Chapter 1 We're Back

Chapter 1

**Marco**

Now I'd gone and done it. I was the one who made Jake see that in order to beat evil, he had to be just as ruthless. Great going, I know. I'd just heard him give the command to ram the Blade ship. I saw the look of surprise on the creature's face that was still on the monitor. I felt the thrusters kick in and the inertial compensators valiant effort to keep us all standing. I saw the Blade ship, always an awesome sight, rushing to get up-close and personal with the bow of the _Rachel_. I saw-

-An Andalite fighter?! Where did it come from? Something was terribly wrong, and I knew I was dead. See, the _Rachel_ had been about two seconds away from colliding with the Blade ship, and here I was, standing on cracked pavement, staring at a crashed Andalite fighter, creaking and smoking. Just like…

I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't bring myself to look. A single tear formed at the corner of my eye as the emotions came rushing back. Elfangor, dying…our decision to fight…the three long years of constant horror, fear, and helplessness…I gazed at the sky, and realized for the first time in a long time how beautiful the stars were.

"Marco?" Jake's voice whispered. Jake's voice, but somehow different. It seemed amplified in this silent parody of the night we met Elfangor. I turned to look and almost fainted. It was Jake, all right, but he was thirteen again. Seven full years younger than he'd been twenty seconds ago. My mind was spinning, reeling, and nothing made sense. Somehow, though, everything made sense. I looked down at my arms and saw that they were covered in barely visible, downy hairs, not the adult hair I was used to. My hands shot to my face and my head. My hair was still long, the way I used to wear it in my early teen years, and no harsh stubble on my cheeks grazed my hands.

The dream-like state got even more surreal when I looked around more. Cassie, Tobias, and..Rachel? I had been through all kinds of hell. I had seen things that were so far beyond belief that I still didn't know if I were just crazy. But seeing Rachel, beautiful as always, jaw locked in that look of determination that I'd seen so many times before…I swear to you, I was never closer to fainting than I was right then.

Past Rachel, trotting up to us, was Ax. His tail was raised and ready, fists clenched, stalk eyes looking in a million directions at once. He kind of broke us out of the dream state by shouting in thought-speak. (What in the seven hells of Boonti is going _on_?!) Ax has kind of gotten a lot tougher since being made a prince and captain of his own ship.

At Ax's cry, a bunch of things happened at once. Jake raised a hand to calm Ax, and I could see the gears grinding away in his head. I actually felt ten degrees calmer and automatically thought of a couple funny things to say, but I bit my tongue. Tobias, almost comically, looked like he was watching a ping-pong game on fast forward and jumped into the air screaming, "AW! AW!," flapping wings he no longer had. Rachel, shocked, sat down very suddenly. Suddenly enough that I winced and imagined a cracking tail bone. Cassie stopped everybody cold with what she said next.

"Calm down, everyone. Ellimist? We're all here."

(Yes, Cassie. It is I. If everyone will relax, I will explain everything,) came that everywhere-at-once voice I was so used to hearing in weird situations such as my current one.

"You'd better," I said. "I was about to be blown to atoms, something I was really looking forward to. Hurry up so I can get back to it."

Jake shot me a look, and I shut up. He was right: now was not the time to be joking. It was life or death here, probably death.

(Where are you?) Ax demanded.

The Ellimist appeared in the form of the blue-man torso I was also used to. I was glad. For a moment, I was afraid he would step out of the fighter in Elfangor's form, but he was far too smart for that. The confusion that would have come from that decision wouldn't help anybody. (I have brought you all here, now, to make a choice no less difficult or important as the first one you made here. Crayak and I have made a deal that will affect everything forever. I call on you again to be the heroes that you are, for the fate of the galaxy.)

Rachel was looking stupid and lost. Maybe it was insensitive, but I was getting pissed. I pointed at Rachel with a shaking finger and said, "Maybe you'd better explain that."

(It was part of the deal. Rachel is really alive. She is really with you again.)

"Why are we thirteen years old, Ellimist?" Cassie asked gently. Getting mad was not her style. She 'killed with kindness,' I guess you could say.

(Only a trick of time, Cassie. If you agree to what I offer, you will be the same exact age as you were when I plucked you from your timeline.)

"About to die, again?" I demanded.

(No. You will be in your homes on Earth with twenty-four hours to get your affairs in order before you embark on this final journey.)

I was about to agree, no matter what this 'journey' was, because anything was better than certain death, right? But Jake beat me to it and said, "As usual, you've put us in a position in which we pretty much have to do whatever you want. Marco, Tobias, Ax, and I can say no and die. Rachel can stay…the way she was. Or we can agree to go on your little mission. Clever as usual, Ellimist." He looked about ready to spit at the mystical being. I kind of wished he would.

Rachel stuttered, like she didn't know how to use her own voice. She did not rise from the pavement. "I was somewhere cold. Dark. Lonely. Is that what it's like to…die?" she whispered.

I almost broke down at hearing that. I'd never heard Rachel sound like that, so small, weak, insignificant. If there was one thing that was constant in our little war against the Yeerks, it was Rachel always out in the front. She was brave to the point that I almost thought she was stupid sometimes. She'd even died bravely. Valiently, even. Nothing that King Arthur, George Washington, or Davy Crockett had ever done could begin to compare. I realized I'd begun to think of Rachel like a mythical being, like Odysseus or Xena or somebody like that – someone who could never be as courageous as they were without supernatural help from the gods or whoever. I found myself wanting to run to her, comfort her, hold on to her until she got a grip on herself and became the herculean warrior that I knew her as. Tobias realized that he wasn't a bird, I guess, because he was just standing there with his arms wrapped around himself like it was cold, except this place the Ellimist created didn't really exist, and temperature didn't exist either. He just stood there, shivering, staring at Rachel like he didn't know what to do. Cassie looked about ready to cry. Jake and Ax, though from different species, had the exact same look somehow: cornered, but hard and dangerous at the same time.

"What is it that you wish for us to do?" came a grating voice from behind a humongous portion of a concrete pipe. A seven-foot-tall, bladed dinosaur stepped out and quickly surveyed the situation with extremely intelligent eyes. Her eyes went big at the sight of Rachel, but there was no hesitation in Toby Hamee's steps as she went to her. Toby gently lifted Rachel off of the ground, careful not to let her blades get in the way, and this act of emotion must have overwhelmed the newly reincarnated girl. She turned to the hulking beast we called a friend and buried her face into the pebbly skin and steel-cable muscles of Toby's chest, sobbing softly. Toby wrapped her snake-like neck around Rachel and let a soft purr escape her throat, probably the Hork-Bajir equivalent of, 'shhh.'

The Ellimist waited for Rachel's sobs to die down, which they did very quickly. Toby did not let go of Rachel, but lifted her head from Rachel's shoulder and gave him an inquiring look. The Ellimist spoke. (If you accept, you will go to a planet called Xylen. There you will find a sentient species that call themselves the Taruffs. As soon as I receive your answer, assuming you agree, seven of Crayak's chosen diplomats will visit a race in a solar system neighboring the Taruffs. All I can tell you of the people Crayak wishes to subvert is that they are called Trunsk. His diplomats will do everything in their power to incite the Trunsk to destroy the Taruffs. The Trunsk are warlike as it is, and on the verge of zero-space travel. With Crayak's diplomats to push them over the top, I fear that the Trunsk could be able to reach Xylen in force in less than a standard year.)

"Great!" I fumed. "Wonderful! So we try to get the wimps to defend themselves against the new bad boys of the galaxy who are going to come in, guns blazing, and blow them away. That sounds somewhat familiar. Oh, that's right. Story of my life," I complained. Jake shot me another look with his strangely unfamiliar teenage face, but I ignored it. "What's the trick? What could be in this for you?"

(There is no trick, Marco,) the Ellimist said calmly. (This is different from previous games that Crayak and I have played.)

I started to tell him what to go and do with his games, but Cassie spoke first. "Different how?"

(The loser of this is going to be exiled and, more than likely, destroyed,) the Ellimist said, sounding as subdued as a super-powerful being could sound.

Ax spoke, and he didn't sound mad anymore. (If we succeed, Crayak would be gone forever. You would be the one and only power in the galaxy. You could make life for everyone happy and prosperous. You could make hunger, fear, suffering, and grief disappear entirely. You could rewrite everything so none of us ever knew what it felt like to be afraid, to feel pain.)

The Ellimist seemed to smile. (I could, but I would never do such a thing.)

Cassie nodded. "You can't take away everything negative and only have positive. It would never work. If you didn't know sadness, you could never know happiness. If you never knew fear, you couldn't possibly know relief."

The Ellimist's not-quite-real smile broadened. (Young Cassie, you amaze me. It will be millions of years before any sentient species embraces that idea, but you have achieved the highest level of understanding the physiology of the human brain could allow.)

"Yeah, yeah, great," Rachel said, wiping her face on the sleeve of her sweater that didn't even really exist. "Crayak bad. No more Crayak, good. We got it. How do we make it happen?" she said, and I swear to god I almost died of relief. Even returning from the dead, it didn't take Rachel long to get back into butt-kicking mode. I saw Jake's slow grin, and felt a similar expression come across my face like a spilled liquid. With that statement from Rachel, it was if a message was carved in stone for the galaxy to see: we were back.


	3. Chapter 2 Home?

Author's Note: What's up. I just wanted to say thanks for the reviews and the encouragement. This is my first attempt at writing an original Animorphs fic, and I guess I started it for two reasons. One, I was pretty pissed about Rachel dying, though I understand why it happened. She was always my favorite character along with Marco, but I loved them both in different ways. The second reason was because, as well-written and conceived the last book was, I couldn't shake the feeling of a cop-out. I mean, c'mon. Some of us have been reading these books for seven or more years, it can't get left hanging. Anyway, _any_ input is welcome. Even though this last installment is in my image, it's more for you guys than it is for me. I hope I do half the job that I'm sure Mrs. Applegate would have done. Thanks again, and enjoy. Peace. Out.

Chapter 2

**Jake**

If you'd have asked me a day ago whether anything was more important than seeing my cousin again, alive and well, I'd have told you no way in hell. Since the moment I sent her to her death, all I really wanted was to be able to celebrate our greatest victory with her. Hang out with her. Tell her all the mushy stuff that I'd have been to self-conscious to say when she was still alive – how much I admired her, how she was the bravest soul I'd ever known, how incredibly cool she was. I didn't have time for that now, though. Not even time for a 'what's up.' The Ellimist had thrown another curveball, and I felt like I was gritting my teeth, trying to decide in a split second whether to let it go by and see if it would be a ball or swing for the fences. I knew this was a strike pitch, straight up. I swung.

"We're going to need a ship," I said to the Ellimist, half-excited and half-depressed. I didn't wait for him to answer Rachel's 'how do we win?' question out of experience. I knew that he would tell us all he could whether we asked him or not.

(It is already done,) the Ellimist told me. (I am able to be a bit more direct in helping you this time, in the beginning of your journey at least. Crayak wants it done fast, and his impatience actually plays to our advantage.) I noticed that he said 'our' advantage, not 'your.' A sudden surge of adrenaline hit. This was for real. The Ellimist was in the boat too, and if we sunk, so did he. (Crayak prefers strength and brute force, and chose his team based on it. You are strong, but your real strength is your cunning. In the long run, I feel we have a good chance of defeating him.)

"Oh, goody," Marco said. He sounded mad, but I saw he still had the idiot grin on his face. I wondered if he'd finally snapped. "A good chance at winning is better than we've ever had before." I nodded in complete agreement. "Let's get this show on the road."

The Ellimist hesitated, something I'd never seen him do. (Very well. I'll send you all to your homes to say goodbye.)

"No," Rachel said, deadpan. "Not me. Everyone thinks I'm dead, and I assume they're all getting on with their lives. It wouldn't be fair for me to say, 'Hey look, I'm back!' and then run off and get myself killed again. That would be ignorant. If I survive this one, I'll tell everyone all about it when I get back."

Tobias, who'd been silent during this whole exchange, spoke up in a voice that sounded very strained. "I have no family, but I think Rachel's onto something. Jake, Marco, Ax and I are all as good as dead too. Maybe we should keep it that way. Until, you know, we make it back…if we make it back…" he let it hang, and Ax nodded the agreement that I felt. I saw Marco hesitate.

So did Rachel. "What, Marco? You got something more important to do?" Marco, not used to having someone around to bust his chops anymore, looked to me in bewilderment as I hid a grin. 'Rachel's back, all right,' I thought.

He didn't stay flat-footed for long. "Nah, just thought you'd like to cruise the beach in one of my Ferraris with me. But I guess they'll be there when we get back." Rachel mirrored Marco's smile and they bumped fists. That was all they needed to know they had each other's backs. I, on the other hand, felt the pressure of leadership crushing down on me again and felt the need to make sure everyone was taken care of.

"Cassie? Toby? What do you guys want to do?" I asked them, pretty much expecting the same answer out of both of them.

"I am content to fight with my friends. You are my family, as much as the Hork-Bajir," Toby stated simply, as if it were a stupid question to begin with.

Cassie sighed. "A lot of people need me here on good ol' planet Earth, but priorities are pretty clear." She went over and shared a hug with Rachel. "Let's go mess Crayak up. Let's mess him up good."

Rachel blinked in surprise, and she burst out into laughter. "What, did you take my place when I was gone, Cassie? I never, _ever_ thought I'd hear you say something like that!"

Ax twirled his tail around over his back, sort of like a weird, bladed lasso. I'd seen him do it before, when he was younger, back when he still got anxious when we knew a fight was coming. (I should be ashamed of myself, because I'm not thinking like an Andalite prince. Is it wrong of me to want to put this tail of mine to use?) It was a rhetorical question that no one felt obliged to answer. He did his eyes-only Andalite smile and turned to me. (I am once again at your service, Prince Jake.)

"You have your team, Ellimist," I said proudly. I knew that the upcoming horrors, stress, and other assorted negative emotions would be many and often, but even though I knew exactly what it was like, I kind of looked forward to it.

The Ellimist read my mind. (Remember, Jake, you're not just fighting for the human race anymore. You're fighting for everything. Everything you need to know, you can access from your ship's computer. I have other preparations to make. Follow your hearts, and you'll never stray.) With those last words, I felt an icy calm come over me, and I fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 3 Ax and Rachel

Chapter 3

**Rachel**

I awoke on a soft cot, and my breath caught in my throat as I sat up quickly. I remembered the Ellimist doing something to send me into a deep slumber at the same time I spotted Cassie in the small bed across the tiny room from me. I felt the somewhat-familiar rumble of machinery beneath my feet and assumed we were all aboard our ship. For the hundredth time since standing with all of my friends and the Ellimist in the construction site, I asked myself if I was really alive or if this was some weird afterlife thing. I decided that the former was really better than the latter and decided to go with it. I wanted to wake Cassie, feeling the desperate urge to talk to another person coming on like a freight train, but I forcefully pushed it away. 'She's sleeping soundly, and I'm not going to be some little girl with a bad dream after all we've been through,' I told myself. Feeling a little stronger, I decided to slip out of the small cabin and explore.

As it turned out, the rest of the ship wasn't very large. There were two closed doors identical to the one that I'd just vacated, and I figured those were for some combination of Jake, Marco, and Tobias. There was a third larger doorway in the same corridor which had to have belonged to Ax, being that it was open and all I could see of the ground was a bluish grass. The corridor with the living quarters was short and narrow, with thick-looking steel doors at either end. I walked to what I guessed was the back. As I pressed my hand to a panel set beside the door, it split in half and whooshed into the floor and ceiling. There I discovered a human bathroom module (in which I marveled at my post-teen face) with a small shower, sink, and toilet. Opposite that was the larger Andalite version of a bathroom, which I recognized from Zone ninety-one. Mostly it was just a big, empty room with a few dangerous weapon-looking things on a rack towards the rear. I didn't know what most of it was, but a couple of the objects just screamed 'assault rifle' at me. I looked towards the ceiling and gasped in surprise at what I saw.

Toby was wrapped in what looked like a giant hammock that was kitty-cornered in the back of the room, what I'd come to think of as the 'cargo hold.' At my noise of astonishment, she made a contented crackling noise and shifted slightly. I went to leave as not to disturb her, but noticed a porthole on the ceiling with a small ladder set underneath it. You know, like in a submarine. I wondered if I was an escape hatch, but realized that if you needed to crawl out of your ship that way, you'd better be able to breathe vacuum. I walked slowly towards the only unexplored door, the one that had to lead to the bridge. I was right, and it was a pretty cool sight. Blinking panels and displays dominated the space on the front bulkhead beneath the huge viewports. It looked like a high-tech arcade, and with Ax standing in the middle of it like some bizarre Captain Picard. I was overwhelmed.

Not that I'd never been on a spaceship before. I'd been on quite a few. I'd died on one. 'Strange how you're getting used to that,' I thought to myself randomly. This ship was cool in a new way, because it was ours. I wasn't an intruder, I was a part of it. It had been made with me in mind. Not that it had been 'made' in a factory or anything…in all likelihood, the Ellimist had snapped his fingers and this technological marvel had appeared. After everything I'd seen, I was still awed at the power the Ellimist wielded. Think of it like this – what if you went back in time, back to caveman days? You show them everyday stuff, like a Bic lighter, or a CD player, or a refrigerator. They'd know what it does and be amazed by it, but they could never really understand. That's the way this was. It wasn't anything special for the Ellimist to just make a spaceship appear to suit us perfectly. We were the cavemen.

Ax turned one stalk eye and blinked a few times, quickly, in what I had come to perceive as his 'I see you, hi,' gesture. I moved to stand beside him, and he shifted uncomfortably. I wondered if I should make a joke to ease the situation, but as smart as he was, Ax just didn't _get_ human humor most of the time. I settled on my favorite approach to adversity – head on. "It's weird having me back from the dead, huh?" I asked him, point-blank.

Surprisingly, he settled back on his haunches as if my question made him more comfortable. (Yes. Don't misunderstand – I missed you greatly, Rachel. You know, some musicians on my homeworld constructed a ballad about your bravery,) he said, almost sadly.

"That's cool. So why the long face?" I asked. He turned his main eyes to look at me and put his stalk eyes back on the monitors and displays, an action telling me that I had most of his attention. I know it sounds weird, but Andalites can multitask like there's no tomorrow. I realized that he hadn't understood the question, so I rephrased it. "How come a song about me made you sad?"

(Ah. The ballad itself didn't make me sad. Well, it might have,) he amended. (But I never actually listened to it.)

"Why not?" I wondered out-loud. I knew Ax was a prince and everything now, and I could tell he wasn't used to being questioned. I don't even think he was used to talking to equals, anymore. I don't know how I knew, but I could see that Ax viewed me as a peer. He would always be the unexperienced-but-determined Andalite _aristh_ that I knew him as, just as I would always be the stupidly brave human youth he met me as.

(Well, for several reasons. Shortly after you…died, the remaining Yeerks surrendered. The mopping-up action didn't take long. I was instantly promoted to Prince and given my own command. There was not really any time for emotions to come into play. I was searching for the Blade ship, a dangerous task in itself. I suppose I had time to listen to it, but I didn't have time for the emotions it would bring. I didn't have time for sadness. I was busy trying to…avenge you.)

I thought it over, then nodded. "Good. People who let emotions get in the way of priorities are idiots. I'd have handled it in the exact same way."

Ax smiled at me with his eyes. (Had you been born an Andalite, you'd be a War Prince by now. Probably a fleet commander. That's why they wrote the ballad.) He then did something weird. Not for me – in retrospect, it was probably something I needed, and it meant a lot coming from Ax. He put one weak, Andalite arm around me and gave me a little half-hug, resting his head on top of mine. It meant so much because I knew it was something he'd never do with another Andalite. No, this was a human action, and one that he sensed I needed. I let him hold the hug for a couple seconds, then elbowed him in the ribs.

"Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, great Andalite Prince and Commander of the task force committed to finding and destroying the Blade ship, getting all mushy on me. What would Marco say?" I asked, laughing.

Ax straightened and gave a formal, weird salute with a circular motion of his right fist and tail blade, and said, (Prince Aximili, Master of Mushy, at your service!)

I nearly dropped with surprise. "Ax! You made a joke! A human-style joke!"

He relaxed from his superhero pose and began working the displays again with a slight thought-speak chuckle. (Of course. I am not incapable. Just don't let Marco find out. He'd be insufferable.) He seemed to turn a paler shade of blue and sheepishly asked, (What _exactly_ does 'mushy' mean, in English?)

I laughed again and settled into what I assumed was the weapons officer's chair and told him. We sat in silence for a while, just the two of us staring into the weirdness that was Z-space. He stopped what he was doing and said, (Rachel, I need you to stand.) I almost thought he was setting up for another joke, but I stopped my retort when I saw that he was serious. I stood. (Please kneel.) I did. (By the power entrusted to me by the Andalite Military, I appoint you Lieutenant and Weapons Officer.) He then tapped me on the head twice with the blunt end of his tail blade and told me to stand.

Stand I did, and looked at him weirdly for a minute. Again, he smiled with his eyes and said, (Did it sound good? I've never promoted anyone or anything like that before.)

"Yeah, Aximili. It sounded awesome," I told him, totally serious. I was a little too independent to think of myself as a military chick, but it _was_ cool when I actually thought about it. 'I'm a member of an alien military. Cool,' I told myself, feeling a little dorky but not caring.

Ax pressed some buttons, and a 3D display popped up in front of the chair I'd been sitting in. (If you're not tired, I'll teach you how to work the weapons on this tug. We don't have a whole lot, but it packs a little punch.)

I sat down and couldn't stop grinning. For the first time since coming back to life, I felt really alive. "Thanks, Ax," I told him.

(Thank you, Rachel,) he replied in the same tone.


	5. Chapter 4 Tobias

Author's Note: Due to great reviews, I've decided to drop all my college classes and make writing this fic a full-time job (j/k…I think.) But seriously, it's amazing how motivated I am to put out quality chapters quickly with great readers like you guys. I take every compliment, critique, and suggestion to heart. By the way, if you've got something you'd really like to see and have an idea how to do it, send it to my e-mail at . That way, if I can find a way to get it in there, it'll be a surprise to everybody. Again, a heartfelt thank you for all the reviews. Keep 'em coming and I'll keep the chapters coming! Enjoy! Peace. Out.

Chapter 4

**Tobias**

I perched on the second highest branch on the artificial tree and let my thoughts and feelings flow. By living in solitude for so long, I'd learned it was a good form of entertainment. If you just allow your thoughts to take their course and stand back and watch them, it's almost as good as reading a book. Plus, you can learn a lot about yourself.

There were two feelings that were stronger than the others, and I focused on them. Annoyance was a big one for several reasons. The most tangible of the reasons was Marco, who managed to aggravate me even in his sleep. I listened to him snore and cursed the Ellimist for putting him in the same room as me. I also wondered if it had a purpose – if I could stay sane while listening to Marco wheeze and snore, it would be a miracle. Maybe that was the point. Getting comfortable or complacent while on my way to a dangerous and possibly hostile planet was a good way to invite disaster.

Also, there was the matter of me still being a hawk. I mean, come on. If the Ellimist can make a spaceship, he can put me back in my human body. I was absolutely used to being a hawk, accepted and even enjoyed it most of the time, but now there was a new variable in the equation – Rachel. I shook my head. Now was not the time to think about that. She'd just come back from being dead for over three years. I didn't think I'd be the foremost thing on her mind.

The other thing that irked me about being a hawk was that everything, save my tree, was apparently made for creatures with hands. The small computer set beside the closed door was obviously meant to be used by hands, human or otherwise. As I reminded myself there's always more than one solution to a problem, it came to me and I mentally smiled. How did Ax mostly communicate with advanced computers? (Open door,) I said in thought-speak to the computer, and the door promptly opened.

I wasn't tired and was getting very close to giving Marco a rude wake up, so I dropped from my perch to the floor. I almost slipped on the steel flooring and cursed the universe in general. I started my morph to human, because there really wasn't enough room to fly and I didn't feel like hopping around like an overgrown chicken. My experience at this particular morph served me well and I finished quickly. I pressed my human hand to the panel at the end of the corridor, since I didn't have though-speak anymore, and hesitated before I entered, irrationally feeling immediately uncomfortable.

Jake and Ax conversated quietly in the center of the bridge. Cassie said something quietly to Rachel, and Rachel snickered. Seeing Rachel there, a little older than I remembered but still definitely her – it was all I could do to stop myself from closing the door. Being a hawk may have hardened me up a little, but only from fear and worry. As a hawk, I would either eat or I wouldn't. Being scared or worried about it had no place in the life of a Red-tailed hawk. Discomfort, however, was something I still had no emotional shielding against. I forced a brave smile on my face as Rachel turned her head and saw me, and I was relieved when it was met with a heart-breaking smile of her own.

I didn't know what to do, but Rachel did. She got up with a liquid grace that I'd almost forgotten she possessed and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug, tentatively at first, then relaxed into it as I remembered all the little things I'd missed about her. I started to say something, but Rachel's hug tightened and I got the message – _Not now. Just hold me._ That I did, for a long time. Holding Rachel, something I never thought I'd do again, threatened to bring tears to my eyes, but I managed to hold them at bay. I'd like to say that I was strong and that's why the tears never came, but I knew in my heart of hearts that the true reason lay in the fact that I'd been a hawk for a very long time, and hawks don't cry. I didn't let go until I felt Rachel's grip loosen. I held her at arm's length for a moment, smiling at her, then looked to Ax.

Aximili, my _shorm_, nodded at me. I nodded back. I waited to see if he would speak first, which he did. (Prince Jake tells me that you came looking for me after Menderash's report,) he said neutrally in thought-speak.

"Of course I did. Keeping you out of trouble had always been my full-time job – I didn't see why that should change after you got made a Prince," I told him.

Ax seemed a little taken aback, and I'd guessed that he hadn't seen much joking around aboard the Andalite cruiser _Intrepid_. (Ha! Well, let's see if you can keep that trend on this mission,) he said, his tone light. (Even though I'm the captain of this ship, I'm also the pilot. I need a co-pilot. Are you game?) he challenged.

I grinned. "Of course. I'm sure you'll understand that there are some things I want to take care of first, though," I said, looking pointedly at Rachel, who actually blushed. I immediately felt the cold rush of fear in my stomach, and I fervently hoped that she hadn't taken the comment the wrong way. I just as quickly forced the feeling away. 'Who cares? I love Rachel, and I'm going to make damn sure she knows it,' I told myself furiously. I decided just to change the subject for now.

"Anyway, how'd you end up commanding this bucket?" I asked. "I thought Jake was in charge."

Jake answered that question before Ax could. "Obviously, Ax knows more about commanding and flying spacecraft. I'd be an idiot not to make use of that," he said with a small smirk. I realized that Rachel coming back and all of us together again had added a dimension to Jake I thought he'd lost back when we all thought he'd lost Rachel. Jake continued. "Ax has agreed to let me take charge on the ground, though he's going to help me out a lot with the diplomatic stuff."

Rachel spoke up. "I guess we've got a lot to catch up on, Tobias." She took my arm and gently but forcefully led me from the bridge toward the quarters her and Cassie shared. She closed the door behind us and my mind exploded as, in the dark, I felt her lips meet mine. Everything was good and right and beautiful at that moment. For the first time, I knew bliss.

Sure, I'd been happy before, but this was ridiculous. I felt like I was being electrified. I took Rachel into my arms and moved my lips from hers to her throat. She let out a low, heavy breath and sat on the bed, pulling me with her. I took a moment to smile and say, "Hey, Rachel."

"Shut up," she whispered harshly, her lips pressing against mine. I complied and let the feeling of passion overtake me. Everything was perfect. Perfect, just like Rachel. Perfect…


	6. Chapter 5 Captain Ax

Chapter 5

**Ax**

After Tobias and Rachel left the bridge, there was an uncomfortable situation left that fortunately, as the captain, I did not have to deal with. I busied myself with studying the ship's capabilities. This did not take long – the ship I now commanded was formidable and it's design somewhat interesting, but nowhere near the technological miracle I had commanded in the _Intrepid_.

The awkward conversation between Cassie and Prince Jake actually turned into a more flowing dialogue in which Prince Jake seemed to ease a little, even relax. Cassie still seemed on her guard, but I could see Jake's charm was working it's way through her barriers. I'd always associated more with Jake and Tobias because, to me at least, they seemed more…I don't know, _Andalite_, I guess. Jake was cordial enough, but also very cool and calculating, even in non-combat situations. These qualities are requisites for any Andalite who wishes to have a command of his own one day. Tobias held a place in my hearts because of the situation we had lived through. We were both castaways, and in each other we found salvation.

I moved on from the data files that covered our ship to more interesting things that were a part of our mainframe. There were extensive files on the physical and psychological make-up of the Taruffs, the organisms we were to aid. Also, there was a lot of history and current major actions on the planet that interested me greatly.

Not as broad were the files on the Trunsk, but what was said of them was enough. After seeing the physical capabilities of the reptilian race, the only thing that kept me from truly losing hope was the mental work-up the Ellimist had directly or indirectly provided.

I noted the time and realized that Tobias and Rachel had been gone for over two and a half Earth hours. I realized that, as humans that had missed each other, they would probably like to spend a long time in each other's exclusive company. I weighed this against the fact that I was ready to give my briefing. The fact that they were friends, not subordinates, almost convinced me to ask Prince Jake _his_ opinion on the issue, but decided against it. Even if they were friends, I was the _Captain_ – it was my duty to show everyone that my years in the Andalite military had been put to good use. I would be respectful of everyone, but command was a position that had few friends.

(Cassie?) I asked in thought-speak. (Could you please tell Rachel, Marco, and Tobias to meet Prince Jake and I in the aft of the ship in five minutes?) She hesitated, glancing at Jake, who nodded, and she left the bridge. Prince Jake gave me a look that I could not easily fathom. It _had_ been a while since I'd been around humans, after all.

When we were alone, I decided the hell with proper procedure, at least for the moment. (Prince Jake, I am conflicted,) I told him truthfully. I noticed my left rear hoof was tapping the floor in a nervous gesture and ceased it immediately, embarrassed by the tell-tale fidgeting. (I know how I should behave as commander of this ship, but all of you are dear friends. I think that giving orders would be seen as boorish and rude, although I know this is something that is expected of me.)

He smiled. "Take it easy, Ax. You go ahead and act exactly as you would around the crew of the _Intrepid_. Aside from Marco taking some shots at you, I don't think anyone is going to have a problem with it. If they do, I'll remind them how serious this mission is. Everyone needs to realize that we are expected to be soldiers. We're not kids anymore, and we'd do well to make use of your training. So, go ahead and do your thing, and if you need any help, send me a private message and we'll straighten anything out that we need to, okay?"

I relaxed and marveled at Prince Jake's ability for command. He was a natural leader, better than most of the Andalites in positions of power that I knew. (Thank you, Prince Jake.)

He laughed. "I'll call you Ax if you'll call me Jake, _Captain Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill_."

I paused, then joined his laughter. (I suppose it would be okay. We are both Princes.) We left the bridge after I made sure we were safely locked in Z-space and Jake and I entered the aft hold. Everyone was standing except for Marco, who was sitting cross-legged on the deck rubbing his main eyes – 'his only eyes,' I corrected myself slyly. It _had_ been a while since I'd had human companions. I had worried about Rachel and Tobias paying more attention to each other than to me during the briefing, but Tobias was again in his hawk form and Rachel was very attentive. Toby, Cassie and Jake stood, relaxed but not distracted. I smiled to myself. 'True warriors they are.'

(First of all, I'd like to say how happy I am to be with you all again,) I began, and truly meant it.

"Couldn't you have expressed your joy in the morning?" Marco snapped.

I began to retort, but Rachel did it for me. "Marco, we're in space, you moron. When do you think morning is?"

"I dunno, but I _do_ know it shouldn't be for a few more hours," he grumbled. Jake cleared his throat and Marco appeared to be done complaining, at least for the moment. I continued.

(I've been studying the ship's computer, and…well, wait. What are we going to call our vessel?) I stopped myself. We couldn't go on saying _the ship_.

Everyone thought…and thought…and thought some more. Without opening his eyes, Marco said in a sleepy voice, "The _Rachel_."

Jake grinned. "That's already taken, Marco," he said patiently.

Rachel studied everyone for a moment and broke out in a wild laugh as she put two and two together. "You guys named a ship after me? How cool is that?" Everyone just kind of grinned but remained silent. I did not have any suggestions for a name, and already I felt in violation of some unwritten law. I'd never been on a ship with no name before. It was a little unsettling.

Cassie broke the silence. "How about the _Apollo_? You know, Zeus' messenger? We _are _delivering an important message."

"_Messenger of Zeus _sounds pretty damn cool," Rachel added.

(Who is this Zeus?) I asked.

Jake let a half-smile tug the right side of his mouth. "Zeus is an ancient god from a long-gone religion," he informed me. "Actually, Zeus was the king of gods, god of thunder. His wrath was legendary."

Cassie looked deep in thought for a moment, then nodded. "_Messenger of Zeus_ works for me," she said.

Marco seemed to be asleep again, and I figured that Tobias would agree with whatever Rachel wanted. (Okay. That is what we'll call her,) I said. (Rachel has been acquainted with the ships weapons systems, and will be handling them in the case that we need them. There are weapons simulations available through the ships computers,) I added for Rachel's benefit. Marco, who I thought had gone back to sleep, suddenly jerked to his feet.

"What the hell?" he cried. "Rachel gets to shoot the lasers? More importantly, she gets to play video games with the _Messenger's_ computer? No fair," he pouted, but it was exaggerated. I think. It's not always easy to tell with Marco.

I smiled. (I was about to tell you something interesting that I found about the weapons. It has two forward mounted shredders, but it also has two more dorsal shredders and a missle launching system. The fascinating thing about the weapons on top of us is while attatched to the ship, they'll be controlled by Rachel. They are actually a part of a starfighter that is integrated with our superstructure.)

It took Marco a moment to realize what I was saying, then he narrowed his eyes at me and said, "What kind of starfighter?"

(Very small,) I said, calling up the data I'd read earlier. (Agile, quite powerful for something of it's size. It needs only one pilot. A human pilot.)

Marco grinned. "Rachel has to work the _Messenger's _lasers. Jake is a prince, and we'd never endanger our prince," he said sardonically. "I guess that leaves me and you, Cassie, to see who the better pilot is."

Cassie started to say something, but I interrupted. (Actually, I was going to ask if you would handle communications and navigation, Cassie.)

Cassie looked relieved. "Yeah, I'd like that. I don't think I'm cracked up to be a fighter pilot."

Tobias sent me a private message. (Just let Marco fly the thing. We probably won't even use it anyway.)

(Marco, whenever you get the chance, please use the computer for combat simulations. We'll need you at your best if we run into trouble,) I told him as seriously as I could manage. Tobias was right, that fighter would more than likely stay docked for the entirety of the trip. Marco threw me a salute which he clearly thought of as military, and I did my best not to laugh. Rachel, on the other hand, burst out in giggles and called Marco a name. I ignored their antics as usual and continued the briefing.

(The Taruffs are the people we'll be making contact with at our journey's end. The are bipedal, like humans.) I accessed the data in the small, handheld unit I'd brought with me and a hologram of a Taruff appeared from the palm of my hand.

(They look like a kangaroo from the waist down,) Tobias commented. (The legs look very powerful. The upper body reminds me of you, Ax, but with longer arms. The head, too, but without stalk eyes.)

As the hologram rotated, Marco chuckled. "Look, mon. They have dreadlocks, mon," he said in a strange accent I'd never heard.

"They look pretty harmless," Rachel shrugged. "Not like we couldn't take them."

(They are 3.2 meters tall on average and weigh nearly 300 pounds. The legs are very powerful, and they can make leaps of over 5 meters.)

Rachel shrugged again, unimpressed, and Jake spoke up. "We're not going to fight them. We want them to trust us." He looked to me. "Is there any way you found that could make them? Trust us, I mean."

I scuffed the deck with my front hoof. (I am not a diplomat. I do not know how to manipulate the psychology of unknown species.)

"What about some information that would give us an edge?" Marco asked. "Something that we could go in and say, 'Oh hey, we do that too. We should be best friends.'"

I shrugged, a very human gesture I'd acquired from my friends. (As far as I can tell, the entire culture is obsessed with blade fighting. They do it with swords, daggers, manufactured wrist blades…just about anything sharp. In some places, they've turned it into an art form, like dancing. Skilled _Kertian_, their word for blade fighter, can go through choreographed fights lasting hours. In other places, duels and challenges are a part of daily life and often fought to the death. I can see how this could be an advantage to myself and Toby Hamee, but I don't know how to use it for a help to the rest of you.)

Tobias interjected. (Humans have been fighting with blades for centuries. I'm sure with you and Toby as instructors, everyone could at least gain some basic skill with a sword.)

I considered. (Maybe. For now, though, we're at least a month away from Xylen. Everyone should use the computers to get acquainted with your stations should the need arise,) I said in a more professional tone. (If you have any questions, I will be on the bridge. For now, please at least get a passive knowledge of your duties.)

Marco snickered. "Ax, you trip me out. In a couple hours, I'll be the best star pilot in the galaxy. I used to play X-wing vs. TIE Fighter religiously." Everyone went to get busy, and I shook the confusion out of my head. (I don't even know why I listen to Marco,) I chided myself. (He never makes any sense anyway.) I went to the bridge and began booting up the simulations for my friends.


	7. Chapter 6 Cassie

Chapter 6

**Cassie**

It was absolutely awesome seeing everybody again, it really was. I couldn't home in on _why_ I felt so uneasy about everything, I just know that I did. I guess seeing Jake again contributed a lot to my discomfort. It was great to see him as I'd always known him – Jake, the leader of the Animorphs. I didn't like seeing him the way he'd been after the war. I didn't like Jake the Yeerk killer. I guess it just unsettled me that while I would have been more than happy to put the violence and responsibilities of war behind me, that very thing was what seemed to bring Jake back to life.

Speaking of coming back to life…how could I even begin to know what to think about Rachel? I'd watched my best friend die. It was hard, but death was always around me, even before the Yeerks. I grew up with my parents teaching me that death was a part of life. Rachel dying was awful, but after everything was over and done with, there was a finality. There was something real and tangible that she'd died for, and her death was the turning point. That's why we won. It's a terrible price to pay, but I know she'd do it again, and again, and as many times as she had to. It was selfish, but I just wanted the fighting to be over and done with so I could get on with my life.

I guess I was depressed. I was in a self-pitying mood almost constantly as we hurtled through the Z-space tunnel towards the Habernon cluster, which was just south of the Yego gravity well. I was taking my duty as navigator seriously, and even though I couldn't get us around without Ax's help, I was getting better. I wasn't the only one who was taking my position aboard the _Messenger_ seriously.

Marco, who had all but monopolized the ship's main simulator for the past twelve hours, emerged with a broad grin suited to his features. "Got 'em all, that time. The third fighter almost toasted me, but I dropped a missle going around that big building and caught him in the smoke screen." The smile disappeared as Ax nodded distractedly and punched a few more commands into the 3D terminal in front of him. "Ax, are you paying attention?"

Ax nodded. (You got the third fighter, good job,) he said distantly. He stopped keying the glowing buttons and turned his stalk eyes to Marco and narrowed them in a suspicious gesture. (Wait, you got three of fighters of what type?)

Marco's cocky smile returned with a vengeance. He leaned with a feigned nonchalance against the nearest bulkhead and pretended to study his fingernails. "I took out _four_ fighters. Two early model bug fighters and two of the advanced series the Yeerks had started producing before the open invasion."

All of Ax's eyes were staring holes through Marco now. (_Four_ bug fighters? Just you? You took them out with what?)

Marco acted indignant and brushed off the sleeve of his jumpsuit/fighter pilot uniform that he obviously thought of as spiffy. "Got the first two on a head to head with my shredders, outmaneuvered the other two and blew their butts into itty bitty pieces with my Viper missles. Took a couple hits, but came out okay."

Ax looked nothing less than shocked. (I don't believe you,) he said bluntly. (Send the recording of that sim to my terminal.)

Marco's brash smirk disappeared for a second, then came back more genuine than before. "I _did_ get them all, but _maybe_ the last bug fighter tagged me a little harder than I thought. _Maybe_ I shut off the sim before I had to manage a crash landing."

Ax did not look any less surprised. (Still, you managed to destroy four bug fighters? Maybe humans are not as slow-witted and sluggish as I thought.)

Marco, being Marco, ignored the insult to the entire human race and concentrated on the insinuation against him personally. "Hey, humans _are_ _too_ slow-witted and sluggish. I just so happen to be a superior specimen." He claimed, jamming his thumb against his breastbone. I sighed so I wouldn't burst out laughing and caught a little glance from both of them. I paused my own simulator and went aft to see if I could find someone else to talk to who's ego wasn't _completely_ out of control.

The cargo hold, as soon as the door opened with its customary _swoosh_, overwhelmed me with smell, color, and movement all at the same time. I took a moment to sort it out and smiled. Jake and Rachel had gotten wooden swords from somewhere and had wrapped them in a material that looked like some of the spare jumpsuits that were so plentiful aboard the ship. I assumed the _Messenger's _Ulanortium converter had produced the swords. The converter was a device that could spit out pretty much anything organic that you could describe to the computer. I hadn't thought of using the converter to make anything other than simple meals, but apparently Jake and Rachel had come up with several applications – the swords, the more complex padding that covered Toby's wrist, elbow and knee blades, and the robe that Jake wore. As I watched, Toby put her muscular arms up in an obvious guard, blades out, and snapped the word, "Come!"

Jake and Rachel, both deceptively stealthy, moved in from Toby's left and right. Jake delivered a high slash first, which Toby deflected with a wrist blade. Moving into Jake with his sword deflected high, she kicked out and blocked Rachel's low stabbing attempt that would have made a pincushion out of her left thigh. Simultaneously, Toby had her right elbow blade at Jake's throat and her left wrist blade jammed into the general area of Rachel's kidney. Smiling her scary Hork-bajir smile, she relaxed and Jake fell to the floor in exaggerated exhaustion.

Rachel settled to the floor and sat indian-style. "Damn. I figured at least one of us would get in that time. You're not a very good teacher, Toby," she teased lightly, but exaggerated her smile so Toby would understand that Rachel was kidding. She needn't have bothered; Hork-bajir may not have been smart, but Toby was a seer. She made Einstein look like a jerk sometimes.

"You both have to learn balance," Toby explained. "Jake, you are too worried about striking first. You make your first attempt all-or-nothing. In this sort of combat, an attack like that leaves you open and will fail most of the time."

Jake grinned without opening his eyes. "That's what you get for fighting a guerilla war for three years, Toby. Against the Yeerks, hard, fast and furious is the way to go."

"Yes, but blade fighting is not like guerilla warfare. It is not sneaky. Moves can be unexpected, yes, but that makes them more elegant. You have to let your blade flow like water in a swift stream."

Rachel tapped her chin with the tip of her makeshift sword. "It sounds like you're going to get along with these Taruffs just fine, Toby."

Toby ignored the comment and concentrated her intense gaze on Rachel. "You are opportunistic, which is not wholly bad. You wait for me to be engaged with Jake before striking. You assume that two against one means that if you wait for two of us to engage, you will be free to do whatever you please. There are two things wrong with this thinking. First of all, it puts your partner at risk. Second of all, anyone skilled in close-quarter combat is more than capable of handling multiple opponents."

(She's got a point, Rachel,) Tobias commented from his perch on the edge of Toby's hammock.

Rachel looked shaken. "No. I'd never put Jake in danger because I was scared. Never."

Toby's expression softened. "That's not what I meant, friend Rachel. It's not your choice, it's the _result_ of your choice."

Now, Rachel just looked confused. Even though no one had acknowledged my presence, I blurted out, "What choice?"

Toby smiled. "Rachel is a true warrior. She studies her opponents as thoroughly as possible before engaging them. In seeing how an opponent reacts against an enemy, she sees flaws and possibilities that weren't there before."

Rachel seemed to relax a bit, but grumbled, "I still wouldn't let Jake get himself into trouble."

Jake stood up and shot a glance over at me. Before I could stop myself, I shyly looked down at my shoes. Tobias, as always more observant most, made a joke to break the awkward moment. "Hey Jake, where'd you get that robe from, anyway? Obi-wan Kenobi?" Jake pointed his sword at Tobias in mock anger and I gave Tobias a meaningful look to express my thanks.

Toby struck her defensive pose and Rachel and Jake raised their swords in simple guards. Before either could move in to attack, the ship _flickered_. I don't know any other way to describe it. The lights, the gravity, the steady drone of the engines all just cut out, and came back on just as quickly. I was about to ask what had happened when the _Messenger_ shook violently and Ax's thought speak cry filled our heads.

(Crew to the bridge! Battle stations! This is _not_ a drill!) Ax yelled, obviously strained but not panicked.

Jake looked at me, and this time, I saw concern in his eyes. I knew Ax was telling the truth about one thing – it wasn't a drill.


	8. Chapter 7 Confrontation

Chapter 7

**Rachel**

As soon as I processed what Ax was shouting, I dropped my sword and booked it for the bridge. Jake and I nearly ran Marco over trying to squeeze past him in the narrow corridor connecting the bridge to the cargo bay, and I leaped into the weapon's chair and fired up the targeting program. Ax began giving rapid fire orders, and I felt the adrenaline charge of an upcoming battle.

(Marco, switch on your weapons systems and let me know when you're clear to launch. Rachel, charge the main shredders. Cassie, plot us a course out of these asteroids, and somebody shut the bridge blast doors!)

I relaxed into the chair and studied the sensor grid. No enemy ships were picked up in the preliminary, so I narrowed the sensor range and began scan the asteroids individually. There were ten or so ship-sized rocks directly in our path, and Ax answered my unasked question.

(Naff pirates,) he grunted. (I've seen this trick before, in the fo'Don sector. They drag these asteroids along common Z-space routes to create a mass shadow to pull us out of Z-space. They'll probably be behind one of the rocks, so be ready, Rachel. They're too big to hide for long. Cassie, where's my exit vector?)

"Umm, working on it," Cassie muttered through clenched teeth. I was busy looking for space pirates, but not so busy that I didn't catch the way Jake was looking at her. He was definitely _looking_, if you know what I mean. "Head to displayed coordinates, and your vector is 229.8," she bit out, still trying to find our way back into Z-space.

The intercom located between Cassie and I squawked. "Mako one to _Messenger_, ready for launch," Marco said. It was all I could do not to laugh. He just sounded so…_eager_.

Ax did not find it as funny as I did. (Hold launch, Mako. We may not have trouble after all,) he said as I indicated my scanners turning up nothing. (I think this is the remains of a previous ambush. Cassie, take your time and plot us a safe course.)

Jake bit his lip, the way he did when there was something he couldn't quite put his finger on. His expression changed suddenly, as if he had finally gotten a grasp on whatever was bothering him. He lunged for the intercom and said, "Marco, launch your fighter."

(Belay that,) Ax barked. (We may not have the time for him to re-dock if -)

"Ax, I've got a feeling about that big asteroid off to the right. If this is a previous ambush, wouldn't there be some debris or something among the asteroids?" Jake interrupted smoothly.

(I am in command, Prince Jake, and my -) He cut himself off as two small ships and one very large one swung from behind the very asteroid Jake had indicated. The small ones accelerated towards us, leave blue energy trailing behind them. The huge ship, an egg shape with a cluster of engines in the lower rear, meandered in after the fighters.

"I've got visual confirmation of enemy craft," Marco cried. "Launching." I felt a shudder run through the ship as Marco kicked in the engines too close to the _Messenger_, and a portion of my weapons indicators went black as Marco severed my connections to his fighter by taking off.

(Mako, take the fighters,) Ax snapped. He began bringing the ship around on Cassie's exit vector. I had already settled my crosshairs on the Egg when Ax ordered me to fire at the capitol ship when we came into range. Through the viewport, I saw Marco streaking at the approaching fighters like some crazy, outer space version of Chicken.

The Naff fighters, which looked like two film canisters with a ball-like cockpit in-between, began firing blue energy beams at Marco's fighter that looked more like lightning than lasers. Marco nimbly dodged the incoming fire, and I saw two missiles hurtling away from his ship.

The egg ship came into range, and I focused on the weakest point I could see. The ship didn't look very solid at the juncture of the superstructure and the engine pods, so I squeezed the trigger and raked shredder fire across the joint.

At the same time, the egg ship opened fire from several protrusions along its hull. The lightning blasts looked pretty nasty, but fortunately for us their accuracy was found wanting. The _Messenger _rocked a few times from close calls, but held together just fine.

I continued my fire along the engine pods, and was rewarded to see a gout of greenish flame spew from the bottom left section. The ship began to make a slow turn, and I figured it was retreating. Ax tempered my good spirits with what he saw. (Don't let your guard down yet,) he warned. (They could be coming about to bring more of their guns to bear on us.)

The intercom crackled to life. "Two Naff pirates are now one with the universe," Marco quipped. "Am I free to engage the big one?"

(Yes, but approach at fifty percent of thrust,) Ax ordered. (If he wants to run, we'll be more than happy to let him.) Just as the words were out of his head, the egg ship shimmered silver and vanished into Z-space.

"Your Z-space entry coordinates are here," Cassie said triumphantly, and I saw some complex-looking symbols appear in front of Ax's master tactical display. Jake smiled and massaged her shoulder with his hand, and Cassie managed to look embarrassed and proud at the same time. I grinned, despite myself, as Toby and Tobias in human form walked into the bridge.

"Nice shooting, Rachel," Tobias told me. "Was that engine shot an accident?"

I started to reply, albeit indignantly, when I realized he was joking. "Too bad I didn't knock out their Z-space drives. I'd have wasted them," I grumbled. I watched the external cameras track Marco's approach to his dock. He inverted the fighter to drop onto the ship like some mutated shark fin, and even from this distance I could see the insufferable smirk on his face. "Ax, are you sure I can't shoot Marco down?" I asked, half kidding.

Surprisingly, Ax immediately got the joke. (Yes, that may be easier than having to deal with him,) he replied as the docking claws gripped what Marco had dubbed the "Mako" fighter. I concentrated on powering down the main shredders and letting the targeting sensors drift into passive mode. The indicators lit up again once the _Mako's_ weapons came on-line with the _Messenger's_, and Ax pushed us back into Z-space.

Marco swaggered into the cockpit and raised his hands against applause he must have imagined. "No need to thank me. All in the line of duty. Any time you guys need me to save your butts, I'll be there," he exulted.

Jake gave him a mock glare and turned to Ax. "Are all fighter pilots like this?" he asked.

Ax did not hesitate. (No, Prince Jake. Even Andalite pilots have more humility.)

"Hey, I'll go head to head with Andalite fighter jockeys any day," Marco said, pulling off gloves he'd gotten from somewhere. "I'm the best, and the galaxy is gonna know it one day."

Ax started to laugh in his face, but I beat him to it. "Marco, you just shot down two skanky pirates that were expecting a merchant ship or something, not a fighter craft. Get a grip on your ego, because we're probably going to be running up against some guys who don't play around."

"Rachel's right," Jake said. He smiled his rare, slow smile. "But that _was_ some pretty sweet flying, Marco. Who ever thought rotting your brain with Star Wars video games could be so useful?"

I guess it turned out that Marco was seriously expecting a parade or something. I know he _wasn't_ expecting a bunch of criticism. He looked down in the dumps and turned to study a weld on the nearest bulkhead.

Cassie must have felt for him, because she said, "Come on, Marco."

He looked at her suspiciously. "Come on, where?"

She smiled. "You just got your first two kills. We need to go paint the silhouettes on your fighter."

He looked pleased and surprised. "How'd you know about that?"

"My dad's good friend was a pilot in the Navy," she explained, grabbing his arm and leading him aft, where the fighter was docked. "He told me all about the -" her voice was cut off as she and Marco disappeared behind the bridge door.

I was done with my shut down of the weapons systems, and I stretched. Jake looked down at the deck, and then back up at Ax. "Hey, Ax, I'm sorry about trying to override your orders. I know you're the captain and everything."

Ax looked sheepish himself. (No need to apologize. As usual, your instincts served everyone well.)

"We need to come up with a system so that doesn't happen again," Jake suggested. Ax brightened a couple of shades and agreed.

I was about ready to puke. "Can you guys just make out and get it over with?" I sputtered with a lot less humor in my voice than I'd intended. I went to the back to see what Tobias was doing, and maybe get in a few more rounds of swordplay with Toby.

On my way off of the bridge, Ax spoke. (Rachel? Good job handling the shredders.)

It wasn't much, but it was more than I was expecting from Ax. He had been the captain of an Andalite war ship for a few years, after all. What I'd done was what he'd expect anyone under his command to do. I gave him a feral grin and said, "Any time you need something shot, I'm your chick."

Jake's barked laughed followed me all the way to the back. "That's my cousin."


	9. Chapter 8 Cold Reception

Chapter 8

**Toby Hamee**

The nights we spent in Z-space went by slowly, and there were no days. My people, the Hork-bajir, were not nocturnal. The lack of day in space made the trip far lonelier than it would have been otherwise. Not many Hork-bajir would ever have to concern themselves with the nuances of space travel. None that were not controlled by the Yeerks, anyway. If a Hork-bajir was under the control of a Yeerk, they had a lot more things to be sad about than lack of sunlight.

I was lonely, but I had my friends. Jake and Rachel threw themselves into the rigorous training program I developed for them. It was my salvation. I wrapped myself in the duties and responsibilities of molding these two young humans into warriors. Not mere warriors – they had to approach perfection. Human senses were fine for most things, but what I knew of the two races we were likely to encounter encouraged me to instill precision into every move they made. Of course, they could morph to a bear and a tiger and that would go a long way towards leveling the playing field. The problem with that was that they were representing humans, just as I was representing the Hork-bajir and Aximili was acting on the behalf of Andalites. They couldn't go turning themselves into something these alien creatures would see as a different race. Not without confusing the Taruffs.

Marco spent his time discussing strategy with Aximili and perfecting his skills in the _Messenger's _starfighter. After everything I'd seen, I was still impressed with his skills. I began to think that the Ellimist had included him because of that particular strength alone, but a conversation with Marco had made me reevaluate him.

I had been eating some synthesized bark from the converter that tasted just as delicious as the real thing. Marco, toweling off from a recent shower, had stopped and made a glib remark to me about the intelligence of most plant-eating species.

"Where we are going, you'd be best not to let whatever nonsense comes to mind spew from your oral cavity," I'd said, sounding disinterested but my anger smoldering. I still had some issues about the lack of intellect in other Hork-bajir, including my parents. They may not have been smart, but they loved me as much as a parent could love a child.

I'd expected Marco to try and match wits and insult me further, and I'd have hated him for it. Instead, he stopped and thought. "I'm sorry, you're right," he said apologetically. "I'll be careful of what I say to the Taruffs when we get there. Thank you for the warning, and try to ignore my stupidity." He jerked his thumb towards the bridge. "I just ran a sim against an Andalite task force, and came out way better than I expected. I'm just being cocky." He patted my shoulder from where I sat and walked toward the room he and Tobias shared. "Thanks for putting up with me."

After that, I'd decided not to prejudge anyone the way I had with Marco. Tobias, who I felt had a mutual respect for me, spent his time watching me train Rachel and Jake. Whenever Rachel wasn't involved in training, Tobias managed to be around her in human morph. They did a lot of holding hands and touching. I approved – this was also the Hork-bajir way of showing affection.

I respected Jake as both a leader and a person. I knew of past feelings he had for Cassie, and I also wasn't so bad at reading human emotion that I couldn't pick up the tension between them. Instead of pressing the issue with Cassie, he let it go. He wanted her to want him, but he wasn't the type to force it on her, which I greatly agreed with. He instead concentrated on his training and becoming an expert of the species we were sent to save. The Taruffs did not have much of a spoken language – it was only about two hundred words. They communicated mainly by expressing emotion, which they could pick up through their little nubs at the base of their skull. It was a low-grade telepathy that Ax had seen in another species.

(The Leerans' telepathic ability is based on the same principle,) Ax had explained to me matter-of-factly. (Their abilities, however, exceed those of the Taruffs. While the Leerans can read thought and brain wave patterns at short range, the Taruffs can only pick up the biochemical signals associated with emotion if they are broadcasted. It kind of works like thought-speech.)

Jake, when he wasn't improving his sword skills, was becoming an expert on all things Taruff. I accompanied him in his studies, but chose to only learn the basics. While Jake studied them as if he were studying for a test, I learned simple things – such as their government, which was highly monarchial, a little of their planetary history, and behavior patterns. Jake deliberated over everything he could get his hands on, including information about our contact – a young female Taruff named Amni'bel. From what I gathered, this female was the one we had to protect at all costs.

I knew Aximili, Jake, and I were the only three who were going to the all-important first contact. Operation Howdy, as Marco had so eloquently dubbed the imperative mission, would include lots of diplomacy. From my experience, diplomacy was a blend of bluffing, lying, promises, and deceit all wrapped up in a package of smiles and handshaking. Jake had a knack for it, which was good, because neither Aximili or I had a taste for it. I'd have thought that I'd be included as a bodyguard, but both Aximili and Jake were quite capable of defending themselves. Jake looked surprised when I'd asked him about it.

"We're all going as a symbol," he'd explained to me. "If these Taruffs see that you, me, and Ax are all good friends from three different species, they'll be more inclined to trust us. Rachel isn't going because she might do something…foolish," he stuttered.

"Foolish?" I pressed.

Jake looked sheepish. "Yeah. Like, what if the Taruffs way of greeting visitors is head-petting? It wouldn't do for Rachel to start swinging because she doesn't like to be touched."

I opened my beak in a smile. "Marco might make a bad joke and offend them so badly they'd start a war."

Jake grinned. "Exactly. Tobias _looks_ like a hawk, but we can't mislead them to think he's a different species. Cassie would be good to take with us, except we don't want humans to be overrepresented. It's all about appearances."

I started to point out appearances were important to human diplomacy and not necessarily Taruffs, but held my tongue. He had enough to worry about as it was.

Twenty-three days after our encounter with the Naff pirate group, we dropped out of Z-space relatively close to the Taruffs' planet, Xylen. With everyone at their battle stations, ready for trouble, we soon realized that the Taruffs were not even space-flight capable.

Ax was dumbfounded. (The reports said they were a level six civilization. That would include space flight. Look at the sensors. We're picking up multiple satellites in low orbits.)

Marco's voice, originating from the Mako fighter, broke in. "Isn't Earth a level six?"

(Yes,) Ax said. (_Yes_!) he cried, sounding abashed. (I assumed when I read level six that they'd have some ships or space stations in orbit, but that's not necessarily true. They could have achieved space flight without the technology to stay there.) He kicked the main engines up, less cautious now.

Rachel spoke a moment later. "Ax, I'm getting multiple contacts in high atmosphere. They've spotted us." She magnified her visual sensors so we could all see what she saw – perhaps three dozen atmospheric fighters buzzing around our intended landing area. As I watched, another dozen rose to join them.

(Attempt to contact them, Cassie,) Ax ordered. (When you find their frequency, ask for permission to land.) Cassie muttered into her headset, punched some buttons, and spoke again.

"They say we're clear to land at this location," she indicated a small part of the planet with a green grid on the heads-up display. "They said a bunch of other junk, but I didn't understand it."

Jake, standing behind Cassie, looked at Ax. "I did. They ordered us to power down weapons and be ready for boarding as soon as we land."

Ax shrugged. (It's not going to work that way. We're not going in aggressively, but we're also not going to look weak. Marco, deploy your fighter, but stay in screen formation. Don't target anybody – we're not trying to make them mad. Rachel, keep the shredders on stand-by. Jake, tell them that we won't make any aggressive moves, but they will _not_ board our ship until they are invited.) Jake took the headset from Cassie, and at her command, started speaking in a monosyllabic sing-song. Ax brought us in swiftly, a lot more swiftly than the Taruffs had obviously anticipated. Their fighters left burn trails in the atmosphere trying to catch up, but they were only half as fast as we were, and we weren't even at full burn.

There was a cordoned-off landing zone prepared for us, and a growing crowd of over a hundred Taruffs had already gathered. I saw a covered building made of intricately carved stone immediated to the right of the LZ and a roped off pathway between the two. As Ax brought the ship about to face the building and deployed the landing gear, Jake said, "Okay, I've convinced them we're friendly. They've ordered the fighters to break off their approach." Even as he spoke, the fighters screaming towards us peeled off six at a time. When there were only six remaining, four peeled off. Two did not. I started to point this out to Aximili, but I noticed his main eyes and one stalk eye were already glued to the scene.

The two fighters, who were still coming towards us at full thrust, began a high-speed bank to break above the _Messenger_. The guns at the noses of both crafts oscillated with all the colors of the rainbow for a couple of seconds, fired as they cleared our hull by inches. I could feel as much as hear the low _whump_ the guns emitted, and two loud noises, as if the metal from the hull itself was screaming, eminated somewhere in the back of the ship. "Hey, they shot at you!" Marco yelled stupidly. He didn't stay surprised for long – he kicked his own fighter up in pursuit of the two would-be assassins. I heard him yelling through the static that his high-speed turn had created, "Hey, you! The guys who shot my friends! Get your asses on the ground, or I'll put you there!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Beautiful. Some of the first contact between humans and Taruffs, and Marco yells the word 'ass' at them. I'd be laughing, but his stupidity could ignite an interstellar war."

What sounded like, "Ka lan ach ito fou," was barked through the bridge speakers, and I realized that Cassie had tapped into the hostile fighters' transmissions. "Honor or death," Jake translated. The two fighters split, obviously setting up for another run on the _Messenger_, and Rachel centered her crosshairs on the lead fighter.

(Hold your fire until you can get a clean shot at their engines,) Ax ordered. (We don't want to kill anyone, but we are going to protect ourselves.) The guns started to glow again, and Rachel didn't wait for permission. She fired, and a narrow beam of shredder fire stabbed neatly into the engine nacelle at the back of the fighter. The engines promptly exploded, and there was what appeared to be an explosion in the cockpit –

And the Taruff was floating unharmed to the ground, waving his long arms at us in what could only be a curse. The other fighter had broken off its approach to avoid shrapnel from the fighter Rachel had incapacitated. Marco dodged his fighter around the descending Taruff, his starboard wingtip about two feet away from the free-floating pilot. Even from here, I could hear the croud below _Oooh_, at the maneuver. The Mako fighter tucked neatly in behind the bigger, blockier Taruff fighter and Marco easily matched every desperate tactic the Taruff tried to employ to shake him. The Taruff decided to play it cute – he angled in for another attack on the _Messenger_, knowing that Marco would have to be very careful not to hit the ship itself while shooting at the fighter. As the gun on the alien fighter charged up for a shot, I saw that Marco wasn't going to play his game. "One away," Marco said as he launched a small Viper missile and banked away from the certainly doomed fighter.

Before the Taruff could shoot, he saw the missile closing with his ship. He made the split-second decision not to go down with his fighter, and ejected. Maybe two seconds after he was clear, the missile hit the back of the fighter and turned it into a huge, bluish fireball.

"Fel lan. To too ya, lama su," the strange voice grated. Jake looked at Ax in open shock. "They said 'Congratulations. Please land.'"

Rachel grumbled. "Whatever. There aren't any more of them. We might as well see what they have to say."

(Agreed,) Aximili nodded. (Toby, Prince Jake, prepare yourselves for contact.) He looked at me directly. (The ship is picking up large amounts of trace methane. Prince Jake and I will not be affected, but you may feel lightheaded and dizzy for a few moments. Would you like us to wait at the ramp with you while you adjust?)

I shook my head, sending my neck into serpentine slithers. "That would show weakness. I will walk slowly."

"And we'll walk with you," Jake said, patting my hand. Ax began running the ship through stand-bys before we even touched the dark soil. Aximili led the way out of the bridge.

"Hey, Jake!" Rachel called after us. "Cassie's got something for you in our cabin." I looked back and saw that Cassie looked absolutely mortified.

"She's right," Cassie muttered. "It's just a little something I had the converter make."

Rachel seemed to delight in Cassie's obvious reluctance to talk about it. "Yeah. She spent over two weeks putting it together, so you better like it," she gloated. I could tell from Jake's expression he was nervous, but Ax snapped him out of it.

He gave the thought-speak equivalent of clearing his throat. (If you all don't mind, we _do_ have alien royalty to meet.)

Cassie stammered after us, "It's just, um, well, you don't have to wear it if you don't want."

Jake opened the door to the girls' cabin on the way to the exit ramp. He looked back at us and said, "Uh-uh. No way. Not even for Cassie."

Ax looked and curved his stalk eyes into an expression of enjoyment. (Come now, Prince Jake. The Taruffs love warriors. Give them a warrior prince from Earth.)

He scowled at Ax, entered the room, and shut the door. He emerged a moment later, bare chested except for the leather and metal vest-like armor that covered his stomach, chest, and shoulders. A wickedly curved sword hung from his back. I thought it suited him well – far better than the multicolored rags humans called clothes. From Jake's expression, he did not agree with my assessment of the garment. "Rachel, I know this was your idea," he called. "I _will _get you back for this." Light giggling reached us through the sealed bridge door.

(Come, Prince Jake. You look rather fearsome,) Ax commented, and for once I couldn't tell if he was serious or joking. (To celebrate, you will lead our little parade. Let's go impress the Taruffs,) he said, hitting the ramp panel and walking proudly out of the ship behind Jake.


	10. Chapter 9 Diplomacy

Author's Note: Thanks again sooo much for the great reviews! I check the reviews probably three times a day, and that's nothing to laugh at with my schedule. I probably should spend a little _less_ time writing this fic, but a bunch of you seem to be enjoying it, so if anything I'll speed up the process. Special thanks to (sorry if I misspell you or leave you out – I'm not online at the time) : Silverhawk, SouthrnBelle, LilMidgett…and that's all I can remember right this sec. I'll be sure to get the rest of ya with the next chapter. Anyway, thanks again and enjoy. And keep leaving those reviews! Peace. Out.

Chapter 9

**Jake**

Yeah, I felt horribly self-conscious in my little spur-of-the-moment, Brad Pitt in _Troy_, leather battle armor. It was something Rachel should be wearing, not me. As a matter of fact, she'd probably talk Cassie into making her one if it was received well here on Xylen. Of course, it'd be as stylish as it was functional, and of course Rachel would look terrific in it.

Sure, I was nervous. I knew I'd crammed all the knowledge I could about the Taruffs in the time provided. But, like when you sit down to take a big test, I couldn't help but feel like I could have learned a little more and probably would forget something important.

Of course, I had no idea what to even say to these people. I had learned enough of their small language to get by, but I was supposed to be a diplomat. I had nothing eloquent planned to say, and even if I did, I probably wasn't fluent enough to actually say it.

Even though all of these pleasant thoughts were running through my head as I stepped onto the planet's surface, I decided right away that I liked the Taruffs, despite the fact that five minutes earlier, two of them tried to kill us.

The roar of the crowd almost deafened me as I stepped off the ramp and tried to keep my footing in the loose, black sand. People were throwing colored paper everywhere and going crazy to touch us, like we were a boy band or something. I grinned and started waving, not even realizing they probably wouldn't have any idea what it meant. A chant had picked up somewhere in the crowd, and it sounded like, "Da Ku'ne," their words for 'beloved stranger' or 'adored visitor.'

I remembered Toby and looked behind me. Ax had taken up position behind her and looked ready to grab her if she faltered. Her eyes looked a little dopey and her breathing seemed shallow, but she gave me a nod. We began walking toward the parliament-looking stone structure, and I studied the Taruffs as I went.

Some of them were positively massive, dwarfing even Toby. Most, however, stood a good two heads shorter than these select few and were less intimidating. Their muscles were sleeker, more like a swimmer or runner than a bodybuilder. Some wore sleeveless robes, but most wore only loincloths attatched to golden, decorative belts that encircled their narrow waists. I thought I could pick out the women as slimmer, a lighter shade of gray that almost seemed blue, and the difference in the hair.

The hair was probably the most human thing about them, and even that was strange to me. It looked more like black tentacles, or dreadlocks, like Marco had noted. In the males, the strands were thicker with fat stone beads strung throughout. The women had very thin strands of 'hair' with just a couple small beads, or none at all.

All of the Taruffs, male or female, large or small, adult or child, had in their posession a stunning amount of blades. Most were slung into sheaths at their waists, but some were across the back and even their chests. The huge males I'd seen earlier often leaned on positively massive swords, like they were mere canes. All the chanting and cheering quieted down to a dull roar as three figures emerged from the building in front of us and waited for us on the stairs.

I swallowed hard as we approached. Soon, we were close enough for me to recognize the middle figure – Amni'bel, the princess of the large nation we had landed on. Beside her were two bodyguards. I was a little surprised her honor guard didn't consist of the huge Taruffs I'd seen, but it made sense. Amni'bel would prefer to have people around her more her size, so they wouldn't distract from her. We climbed the stairs and stopped right in front of her, and I led a bow I believed to be appropriate.

"Mish on tafa gah," I started hesitantly.

The queen waved her hand dismissively and shook her head, sending the hundreds of intricate beads in her hair flying. "You may dispense with that. I speak perfect human," she said in heavily accented but understandable English. It was strange to hear at all, and the fact that the sounds came from the vibrating skin of her throat made it weirder.

I covered my shock and narrowed my eyes. "How is it that you speak 'human?'" I asked.

She ignored my question. "Are you the one who shot down the first _Hulta_ fighter?"

I wasn't sure what to say. I wanted to demand that she answer my question about speaking English. I wanted to ask her why it mattered who shot down the fighter. Instead, I said, "No."

She turned to Ax and Toby and repeated her question. They both answered in the negative. She lifted a veil that had been around her neck to her face and turned her back on us. Ax looked at me questioningly. I shrugged.

The guard on her left tapped his wicked-looking wrist blades together. "The queen forgive your ignorance," he said in halting English. "She only talk to pilot and one who shoot from big ship."

I saw Ax's main eyes go big and I knew what he was thinking – 'Rachel and Marco?!' I had to stall. This was not going as planned at all.

"Why will she only talk to them?" I demanded.

The guard canted his head. "You look like warrior. You are not. Other two are warrior. Queen is warrior too. They talk, make nice," he said, and then acted as if saying that much had tired him out.

Ax spoke and I gritted my teeth. (This is Prince Jake. He is a great warrior among his people.) I could have slapped him. We were still in the shoving match stage; now was not the time to bring that up, because they'd want proof.

Amni'bel turned around, but did not drop her veil. "And you? Are you also a warrior?" she asked, studying his tail blade almost enviously.

Ax raised himself up. (Of course I am a warrior,) he said haughtily. (After repelling the Yeerks from Earth, I fought breifly in the Ketaris campaign and went -)

"Good," she interrupted. "You will not mind demonstrating your skills, then. Yama, give 'Prince Jake' a demonstration of what it is to be a Taruff _kertian_." The guard who had remained silent stepped forward.

"Please give the human and I room to engage," he said politely to Ax and Toby. I was pretty scared, but I knew the challenge had been delivered and I couldn't back down. I nodded to them, and Toby immediately went down about ten steps. Ax raised his tail and looked ready to argue the point, but I gave him a look and he reluctantly joined Toby. Yama drew a long, narrow sword from a scabbard at his side and a dagger from his bandolier. I drew my sword for the first time and marveled at how light it was. Yama looked to Amni'bel, who lowered her veil.

"First blood will be sufficient, I think," she said. "I do not wish for the newcomer to be killed his first five minutes on our planet, even though it may be what he deserves. Begin."

Yama swung his sword in a backhanded slash towards me with his dagger right behind it in a similar slash. I took both strikes on the edge of my own sword and instinctively pushed. It put me up against the body of this alien. I smelled it's strange sweat, and decided to hell with honor and dignity. I drove my right elbow into the side of his head, hoping to stun him. To my surprise, the skin split easily and spurted dark orange blood onto my pristine body armor. I stepped back and raised my sword to strike, expecting a swift retaliation from the wounded Taruff, but Amni'bel barked, "Enough!" She looked me up and down as if seeing me for the first time. "The Prophet was right. You are a barbaric fighter, but competent enough. I hope more of the Taruff ways rub off on you than the other way around."

The second guard, with his curved, forward-raking wrist blades, stepped forward and let a loud growl escape him. "Princess, allow _me _to show this alien how to use blade," he said, gesturing fiercely at Ax. The princess looked at me as if she expected me to protest. I smiled at her and nodded. I wasn't even very good with a sword, and I had bested a royal guard. Ax would easily carve this guy up. I didn't exactly want that to happen…but either way, we had to earn their trust somehow.

Amni'bel gestured to Ax. "Are you ready?" Ax snapped his tail in response.

The guard bellowed and leaped – I mean, he really _leaped_. He looked like a cricket firing his powerful legs and caught Ax by surprise. Ax managed to block the overheaded hack aimed for his head, but the left wrist blade caught him across the arm. The guard spun, his hair flying in all directions, and Ax was able to block three quick jabs aimed for his chest. He went of the offensive, driving the alien down about four or five steps, and caught him across the back in a long, horizontal sweep of his tail. It would have laid him open from kidney to kidney, but at the last second Ax turned his tail blade so that it just swept him tumbling down the stairs head over heels. Ax, holding his injured arm, turned to the queen and said, (If that will be all, your majesty, maybe we could talk instead of playing with your guards.)

I hissed, but I really couldn't disapprove, mainly because I agreed. This was ridiculous. We were here to talk, not fight. The princess let a loud, stuttering noise escape her which could only be a laugh, and the crowd cheered. "Yes, we have much to discuss. It seems the Prophet was wrong about you. He told me you would not fight, yet you did."

I sheathed my sword. "Who is this Prophet?"

She beckoned, and her beaten guards were replaced by two new ones. She led the way into the massive stone structure and said, "I will explain all I can. Then, perhaps, you will tell me why you are here."

Ax, still angry, clopped up the stairs after her without a word. Toby looked at me questioningly, and I shrugged. I had no clue as to where we were going, but at least we were making progress. As we passed by the gargantuan stone pillars into the building, Ax faltered. (Prince Jake, look,) he said, gesturing with his stalk eyes at a pillar perhaps fifty yards away. I caught a glimpse of what he'd seen and almost broke into a run towards it. Only my years of seeing unexpected things kept me from panicking or letting on that I'd seen.

"That looked almost like a human," I whispered to Ax, speaking of the shadowy figure I'd seen slinking in the shadows of the pillars.

(Yes, Prince Jake. It did look exactly like a human,) he confirmed. I gave a mental shrug and took the lead. Whatever the hell was going on in this place, I was pretty sure we were about to find out what it was.


	11. Chapter 10 Marco's Mistake

Chapter 10

**Marco**

I sat in the cockpit of my starfighter and fiddled with everything. I knew I wasn't supposed to make contact with the Taruffs before Jake and his merry crew were done with their formal pow-wow, but it was really, really hard. The general population that had gathered for Jake's big swordfight now had nothing to captivate them except for my fighter and the _Messenger of Zues_. I guess they were more impressed with me, because most of them were touching the hull and _oohing_ and _ahhing _like it was the coolest thing they'd ever seen.

I decided that going out and talking to them would be okay. I mean, I know I wasn't supposed to, but that was only because Jake was scared I'd offend them or something, right? But they were gathered all around me. They obviously loved me. Wouldn't it be worse to ignore them than to just go and say hi? What could it hurt?

I popped the seal on my cockpit and walked out onto my starboard wing, stopping short of the shredder mounted at the tip. I raised my hand in a wave with my biggest 'meet the crowd' smile, and realized that as soon as I'd left the cockpit all the blueish aliens had backed up a few paces and gone deadly silent. "Greetings," I said, not sure what honorific, if any, was appropriate on this planet.

The silence continued, and I started becoming a little unnerved. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten out. Maybe I'd let my hero status on Earth go to my head a little. The damage was done, however, and I couldn't just go lock myself up in the fighter again. I'd look like a chump. I tried again. Putting my hand to my chest, I made eye contact with the nearest Taruffs and said, "Marco. My name is Marco."

I got a reaction this time. All the Taruffs in my vicinity said in unison, "Maaaarco," stretching the word out like it had some cosmic significance. I grinned as one of the massive Taruffs stepped forward to meet me. I mean, _massive_. The wing I was standing on was at least six feet off the ground. Add another five something to that, and you'll understand that I was well above most of the crowd. This Taruff, with a battle axe the size of a Harley Davidson on his back, walked up to me, and his head was at my chest level. Swallowing nervously, I stuck my hand out. "Nice to meet you," I said.

He didn't shake the offered hand. He took my wrist in a gargantuan, three fingered grasp and nearly yanked me off of the _Mako_. He pulled my hand to his face and put it to his forhead. I didn't really know what to do, so I did what came naturally – I patted his head.

A younger, much smaller Taruff came to my rescue. Much more delicate and fragile looking than most of the beings assembled, she reached up and backhanded the big Taruff in the shoulder. "Ta tu laf narish," the big one grated at her.

"Nakatsu," she replied. He released my hand and backed away. The female tilted her head and studied me for a moment. "They like you," she said in English, and I almost fell off the fighter. "Lok is fighter pilot. He wonders if you fly with him."

I sat at the edge of the wing and hopped off, dropping to my hands and knees in the soft black sand. I brushed off my pilot's jumpsuit and looked up at the weird female alien that somehow spoke my language. "Well, considering that the Taruff pilots I've already met were doing their best to kill my friends and I, I might have to turn him down," I told her, a little more sarcastically than I'd intended.

She waved my comment away. "That was nothing. Two young pilots eager to prove themselves against offworlders," she explained.

I narrowed my eyes. "What's your name?"

"Hali. I am aide to the princess," she added.

"Well, Hali, I don't take being shot at lightly. Also, I've already proved that I'm superior to your pilots, so I don't really feel the need to play along," I said, knowing that Jake was going to be furious but not caring.

Hali turned to the group, who was paying attention intently, and growl-barked a long speech. When she was done, some of the Taruffs simply turned and scattered. Most of them, however, made a loud croaking noise and bowed up like they were ready for a fight. The big guy, Lok, looked like he was about to launch himself at me. I looked at Hali and asked desperately, "What the hell did you tell them!"

"I merely tell them that you do not find our pilots worthy. I also tell them that you call the two earlier challengers dishonorable," she said with a flippant attitude.

I could have pulled my hair out. "I never said that!" I yelled at her. "I didn't even say that!" I yelled at the crowd, who obviously didn't understand a word of it. "Fix it!" I yelled at Hali. "Make them understand that I didn't mean that, before they make a stain out of me." She gave me a slight nod.

Again, she spoke to the assembly, and they visibly relaxed. Lok stepped forward and barked. "What did he say?" I asked Hali.

"I tell them you sorry. Then I tell them you accept one pilot challenge. Lok challenge you," she said haughtily.

Instead of getting mad, I took a deep breath and counted to ten. It didn't work. "Hali, I _never_ said I would accept any challenges. Why would you tell them that?"

She looked as surprised as her featureless face would allow her. "You insult them, then you tell me fix it. Accepting or offering challenge is the Taruff way to fix insults. I do what you ask."

I closed my eyes and sighed. Jake would give me hell, but I'd screwed up. Now I had to make it right. I considered my next words carefully so Hali couldn't misinterpret them and tell Lok I called him a pansy or something. "Tell the honorable Lok I humbly accept his challenge." Hali raised both arms and once more addressed the gathered Taruffs, who all roared in what I took as approval. Lok stepped to me, grunted a short phrase, and gave me a pat on the back that nearly sent me airborne.

"Lok wishes to impose the _La Kalo_," Hali told me. Before I could even ask what it meant, she explained. "_La Kalo_ is a condition in which kindred spirits are formed through battle. If loser of dogfight does not die, he will be forever indebted to winner."

I frowned. "You mean, like a slave?" I didn't like the idea of Lok getting off a lucky shot and me having to polish his belt and wash his loincloth until I died.

"No, not slave. More like friend-promise." Hali tapped her forehead with a thick finger, obviously trying to decide how to explain it to me. "If you shoot Lok down, he will follow you wherever you go. He will protect you. He will help you in any task you choose."

I sighed. "He'll be my henchman. Sidekick," I tried to further explain. "My right-hand man."

"I think you speak strange. He will be your aide, as I am Princess Amni'bel's. I am not slave, but I do my duty to the princess."

"Great. I need that like I need a hole in the head. Is there any way I can decline _La Kalo_ and still accept the challenge?" I asked.

"Yes. Lok will fight to the death if you decline, though. If you do not accept _La Kalo_, he will think you don't like him or think he is worthy as your friend. He will not eject from his fighter even if faced with certain death, and if you eject, he will kill you before you hit the ground."

I debated. I really didn't want a humongous, blue scaly guy following me around for the rest of my life, but I couldn't kill the guy just because I didn't want him around. I sighed again – Jake really _would_ kill me for this. "Tell Lok I accept all conditions." She did, and Lok roared and gave me another powerful back slap. He bounded off toward a section of the stone building that could only be a hangar. I tried to jump up and grab the wing of the fighter to haul myself up, and two Taruffs came to help boost me up. I was strapping into the cockpit when Hali yelled at me.

"Wait, Marco!" she cried. "I must know! Why do you need hole in your head? Is it a human custom?"

I couldn't stop a burst of laughter. "It's humor, Hali. _Human_ humor. When I get back, I'll tell you all about it." I flicked the appropriate switches, and my powerful engines began their high-pitched whine before the cockpit had closed all the way. Through the dark cloud of black dust that rose around the fighter, I saw the Taruffs, cheering even as they backed away. I eased on the vertical thrusters, and when I was sure no Taruffs would get caught in the thruster wash, I kicked the fighter into full burn and ascended into the purple twilight.


	12. Chapter 11 You Kidding Me?

Author's Note: Hi again. I know this fic is kind of slow in developing…I kind of planned it that way. It's probably going to be really long, so I just don't want anyone to get discouraged and give up on me. I'll have plenty of Jake/Cassie and Tobias/Rachel moments, so you hopeless romantics out there will assuredly get your fill. I know the PG-13 rating is a little high right now, but trust me, for upcoming chapters it is very appropriate. It actually might not be enough..but I'd hate to rate it R and get booted off the main page. Anyway, I definitely love all the reviews so far and I'd be stoked to get more. Also, no one's emailed em yet with any suggestions – I'd probably take them more to heart from the e-mail. It just kinda seems like it's idle curiosity in a review. Anyway, I don't want to you log off before you even get through this note, so on to the next chapter! Peace. Out.

Chapter 11

**Rachel**

I sat in the weapons chair, bored out of my skull. It was pointless to be on-station – if the Taruffs decided they wanted a fight, it's not like we'd be able to fly away without Ax. I played with the external cameras and focused in on Marco's fighter. I utilized the zoom and saw that he was outside talking to the crowd of humanoids. "What in the _hell_ does he think he's doing?" I asked incredulously.

Tobias leaned over my shoulder and said, "Looks like he's trying to ruin everything in typical Marco fashion." Cassie covered her mouth with her hand.

I unstrapped, muttering something about killing Marco with a dull butterknife, and Tobias gently restrained me by putting his arms around my waist. "Where you going?" he said softly into my ear. Any other time I'd have relaxed into his grip instantly, but Marco had my blood boiling the way only he could.

I wiggled my way out of Tobias' grasp. "Where do you think?" I retorted a little more harshly than I'd intended. "I'm going to stop that idiot from ruining everything Jake's trying to accomplish inside."

"Too late," Cassie said. I looked at her questioningly and she merely brought up the camera view in full holo above the center console. Through the cloud of dust rising from his fighter, I saw the Taruffs jumping around like morons as Marco gained altitude and made a wide circle around our landing zone.

"Put me through to him," I said through gritted teeth to Cassie, who nodded and pressed a bunch of buttons. She handed me a headset which I placed on my head. "_Messenger _to _Mako_," I said as calmly as I could.

"Go ahead, Rachel," Marco said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong and not totally succeeding.

"Don't, Marco. Just don't. You might as well tell us now what you managed to screw up," I growled.

He dropped the 'who, me?' façade and said, "There's no delicate way to put this. I've accepted a challenge from a humongous Taruff who wants to shoot me down in the name of honor."

"You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me," I managed to say. I was about to target him with the shredders and shoot him down myself when Tobias took the headset from me.

"It wasn't my fault!" Marco declared indignantly. "I just went out to say hi! One thing led to another -"

"And you accepted a death duel challenge!" I roared. Tobias jumped in his seat and I felt guilty. He still wasn't really used to being around people, especially not loud, pissed-off people he'd spent years thinking were dead.

Cassie motioned Tobias, who said, "Marco, Cassie's picking up a launch. Looks like one of those fighter thingies."

Marco started a wide bank towards the rapidly accelerating Taruff. "Yeah, yeah, I see him. I'm not gonna kill him. You guys should just relax."

I would have stalked out of the cabin just then, but I was curious to see how this would play out. I halfway hoped Marco would get blown to hell so at least we could forget about him screwing anything else up. Then again, I'd miss him if he got himself killed. Probably.

"The Taruff is firing," Cassie said, pointing to the weird light show that went on for a couple of seconds before the energy was discharged. Marco saw it – had to see it – but held his course.

"Why isn't he maneuvering!" I raged. "What is he, some kind of a show-off now?"

"Marco knows what he's doing, Rachel," Tobias said quietly. As he spoke, the laser-ball thing launched toward Marco at incredible speeds –

-And a missle shot out from Marco's fighter at the same instant that he banked, shooting upward like a piece of paper thrown out of a speeding car. The missle collided with the energy ball and exploded. Marco drifted into the fireball right as it was starting to dissipate. As I lost sight of him, I heard him cry, "Yeeeee-HAW," as he emerged from the other side of the detonation almost directly on top of the Taruff fighter.

The Taruff, apparently thinking he'd gotten Marco, jerked downward toward the planet's surface as Marco took his own fighter into kind of a mutated drop-turn and ended up directly in the enemy fighter's thruster wash. "Quit playing around! Shoot him, Marco!" I yelled as Marco skillfully matched every evasive move the Taruff made.

"Shut up!" he yelled back. "I'm lining him up – there!" he cried triumphantly. The twin shredders stabbed out at the fighter and sheared it's right wing completely off. "Now he'll have to eject!" Sure enough, as the large fighter dropped like an unaerodynamic rock, the canopy blew off forcefully and a positively huge Taruff floated gently to the ground. The flaming remains of the Taruff's fighter narrowly missed the surging crowd of Taruffs rushing to meet Marco at his anticipated landing zone, and disintigrated as it rolled to a stop fifty meters in front of the building Jake had gone into. Small pieces of metal clanked against the stone structure, but otherwise did no harm.

"_Messenger_, I'll be heading over there shortly, and I'm going to have company. It should be friendly, but be ready just in case," Marco said. I snatched the headset off of Tobias' head.

"What do you mean, 'company?'" I demanded, but only static answered me.

"He's cut communications," Cassie said, sounding distinctly unhappy.

Tobias shook his head. "I don't know what Marco is talking about, but we'd better prepare the ship for guests. Maybe, just maybe, we can turn this Marco blunder into something we can use."

I rubbed my head to ease away a sudded migraine that had started my head pounding. "Yeah, you're right. I'll kill him later."

Cassie grinned. "I think that's the best we're going to get out of Rachel," she said to Tobias.


	13. Chapter 12 Princes and Princesses

Chapter 12

**Ax**

I'd decided that I would just keep my thoughts to myself and let Prince Jake handle the talking. I was a warrior, not a diplomat. Nothing was going to change that. I did not possess the sense of subtlety that Prince Jake did. It wasn't entirely my fault – humans had practically redefined galactic politics in the few short years they'd been involved. Surprising, I know. I, like most Andalite soldiers, viewed subtlety as a very human way to miscommunicate so they could find reasons to kill each other.

My attention returned to Prince Jake and Amni'bel, who were walking side by side in front of Toby and I down a beautiful obsidian hallway decorated with sapphires. If the stones were genuine, this hallway was worth more than a Dome ship. "Please, Princess, allow me to ask you about something you mentioned earlier," Jake inquired in a manner I'd learned to interpret as 'politely prying.' She gestured for him to ask. "You talked about a prophet who seemed to know we were coming. Not only that, but he knew who we were and predicted our behavior. I was under the impression that before today, your people weren't even aware of the existence of humans. Obviously, I was wrong, since you speak my language and your people were more or less prepared for our arrival."

Amni'bel lowered the veil that covered her face half of the time. I'd developed a theory behind her veil – it was a primitive way to show distance or closeness to whoever she was addressing. She'd lower it if she felt on level ground with whom she was speaking, and would cover her face if she felt distant. I'd been watching, and my hypothesis had yet to be proved wrong. "I don't know if 'prophet' is the correct word for this being," she said slowly, as if to make sure she didn't say too much. "That is what the people of my tribe call him, but he is not one of us." She seemed deep in thought as she hiked up the beautiful robe she wore in order to climb an open set of stairs. "I suppose it cannot hurt to tell you what I know. He has requested to meet you as soon as you arrived, anyway."

"Is that where we're going now?" Prince Jake posed indulgently, and the princess nodded.

"He is a human, like you. And he has…another…with him," she said, casting a glance back at me for the first time since we entered the building. "He told us you would come, and that you would be hostile. You would attempt to gain my trust and subvert my people. This is not true, is it?" she asked Jake, peering into his eyes.

"No, it is absolutely not true," he said, openly honest. "We are here to help save your people from a tragedy that could destroy you."

She tilted her head in an approximation of a humored expression. "Funny. That is exactly what the other human says about his group of people. The thing that I don't understand is why two humans would speak poorly of each other to a neutral party."

Jake sighed. "I know enough about your race to know that you don't have real wars." He waved down the princess as she automatically raised her veil and swelled up as if Jake had poisoned her with his words. "That is to say, you are wise enough to love honor and battle, but do not destroy yourselves in the process." I had no idea how much of what he was saying were his true feelings and how much was said to humor Amni'bel's obvious, deep-seated beliefs. "Humans have had several great wars, destroying much of the planet itself, not to mention the massive loss of life. We have also fought and won a different kind of war recently – the invasion of the Yeerks."

Amni'bel nodded. "I know. I have read about it on the prophet's computer. He showed me how a few Andalite bandits won your war for you. Why should I listen to anything humans have to say? Why shouldn't I negotiate with the Andalites, or with no one at all?"

I could not stand for this any longer. (If you choose to believe lies that a human-controller feeds to you, go ahead. We can leave your entire race to be wiped out by the Yeerks and their new allies,) I spat.

Surprisingly, she stopped and lowered her veil to me for the first time. "At last. You speak what is in your heart, not what you think I want to hear. Enlighten me, Andalite."

I did not calm down. (You act as if you know all, but the truth is that you know nothing! Stop to think, Princess. Why would this 'prophet' tell you that his own culture was too weak to fight their own war? Because he is not a true human at all. This,) I said, gesturing to Prince Jake, (is a true human. Brave, heroic, smart, calculating…even ruthless when need be. Andalite bandits did not win the war for the humans. I should know – I was the only Andalite present for any of it. Prince Jake and his very young companions, the four humans that he brought with him, defeated the Yeerk Empire single-handedly. If not for Prince Jake, I would be dead, the entire human race would be enslaved, and my own people would be under attack right now. Because of his actions and those of his friends, peace reigns in our sector of the galaxy. _That_ is why you should listen to him, not some Yeerk pretender,) I finished. I wanted to say more, but I was out of words and out of energy.

Amni'bel seemed to consider my words, then nodded. "A very emotional speech, friend Andalite. One that I am inclined to believe." She subtly gestured to the two guards trailing us at a discrete distance, and they gracefully bounded to a door set in the side of the hall. As they took up positions on either side of the doorway, the princess said, "We are here. We are under a truce with these beings." She looked to Jake, who nodded his understanding. "Since we have a truce with them and we also have a truce with you, you are expected to behave as guests and limit yourselves to talking. If you cannot resist violence, you may offer a sub-challenge."

"What is a sub-challenge?" Toby said from beside me, and I almost jumped. They were the first words she'd spoken since we left the ship. It seemed that she was totally in her element – listening, observing, and judging in the way the most exceptionally intelligent beings do.

"It is not as significant as a full challenge, but must suffice in situations like these. For example, if I did not like the way that guard looked at me, I would challenge him, and it would be a full challenge. He would then have two choices – accept the challenge, or accept the public shame and humiliation that refusing a challenge would certainly bring him."

"Since you and the so-called prophet are of a people who are not well-known to us, we can only allow sub-challenges to take place between you. As a Taruff, I would not know if a certain look or gesture should offend a human enough to offer a challenge, you see?" Prince Jake nodded. "In the case that you are inclined to offer a sub-challenge, the prophet will either accept or decline, just like a normal challenge. The difference is that there will be no repercussions for declining. The people of Xylen cannot judge what they do not understand."

"So, if they challenge us and we say no, we won't be held in lower esteem?" Jake asked.

"Correct. It will be as if the challenge was never offered. Not to worry, you already have the general population's support," she comforted him. Jake looked a little confused and obviously decided to let it pass, but a stray path of thinking had fired off in my brain.

(We have their support for accepting the pilot challenges when we landed, you mean?) I asked her for clarification.

She walked to the doorway and rested her hand on the handle. "Yes, you are received well for winning those two challenges. Also for your fighter pilot accepting a well-meant challenge from one of our best pilots and defeating him."

Jake looked as if she'd shocked him, but managed to nod as if he already knew about Marco. (Of course,) I thought to myself. (Marco _would_.)

She opened the door and stepped aside, and Jake walked confidently in with me right behind him. He backed up directly into me when he saw who I saw at the same instant – _Chapman_. Prince Jake started to draw his sword, and only the Taruff guard, who had somehow slipped past me without me noticing, stopped him from finishing the motion by grabbing his wrist in an iron grip.

I instinctively swung my tail blade at the hand that was restraining my prince, but found it stopped short of its target by a gold-outlined wrist blade thrust inches behind Prince Jake's head. I started to push forward for more room to maneuver, but Amni'bel's command stopped me short. "Stop! Unhand the human prince and the Andalite at once!" The guards complied immediately and melted away into the shadows of the humongous, nearly empty chamber. Chapman smiled.

"Well, hi there, Jake. Long time, no see," he said, nodding comfortably from his sitting position on a raised stone slab.

(Shut up, Yeerk,) I said viciously. (You will not confuse us by playing games.)

He laughed. "To the point, as usual. Well, I see that you're not here to chat, so let's get down to business."

"We don't want your business," Jake said. "Why are you here and not at the Trunsk planet or whatever?"

"Well, I decided I'd just deal with you here. It be quicker."

(Ha!) I laughed. (You and what army, Yeerk?)

Chapman gave me an icy stare. "No army. Me and Efflit 2230 don't need one to take care of you."

"You mean, the Yeerks not in control?" Jake said incredulously. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want while you can. You're about to be exterminated. Of course, by the ridiculous laws on this planet, I challenge you to a duel or whatever. For now, though -"

"Silence!" Amni'bel cut him off. "The challenge is offered. According to our _ridiculous _laws, Prince Jake may choose his weapon."

I had a sudden flash of insight. (Hand-to-hand! You can morph, Chapman can't!) I cried. A predatory smile spread across Jake's face.

"Hand-to-hand, if you please, Chapman," he said.

"This is ridiculous!" Chapman yelled. "You can't expect me to -"

"Be silent, or I will silence you," a guard said menacingly with a wrist blade gesture. He shoved Chapman closer to Jake, who was already dropping on all fours.


	14. Chapter 13 Hello, Chapman

Chapter 13

**Jake**

I felt the morph emerge quickly, a powerful explosion of senses and strength. As the morph progressed and tiger started completely replacing my human self, I reflected that it had been far too long since I'd done this particular morph. I saw the fear in Chapman's face, but as I lost my dull human senses, I could also _smell _the fear and anxiety. I could almost _taste _it. Tigers are maneaters - don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Sure, they can be contained and controlled. Hell, _any _source of power could be contained. Incredible power was contained in the energy cells aboard the _Messenger_. Even the Ellimist's power was put into check by Crayak's. But that potential – the electric, amazing potential – was bursting through every cell in the tiger's body.

As I started stalking around Chapman, I could smell not only his fear, but also the weird, alien smell of the Yeerk in his head. An uprising of human emotion threatened to take over the tiger's will – compassion. I brushed it away. Compassion? Was the Yeerk in Tom's head compassionate when he ordered his companions to kill Rachel? Was Visser Three compassionate when he ordered my entire _town_ to be demolished? Would Chapman, if the present situation were reversed, show me an _inkling _of compassion?

No. What I had to do had nothing to do with human emotion. It had nothing to do with humans, period. If I didn't do whatever it took to succeed, billions upon billions would suffer and die. I had no right to give my emotions any weight at all. No right whatsoever.

It helped that Chapman's face was that of a sworn enemy. He was actually one of the first enemies I'd ever had. Strange – I'd never thought of it that way before. I was thirteen when it all started. Thirteen-year-olds don't _have_ enemies. They can't even understand what the word truly means. Yet, because of the Yeerks directly and Crayak indirectly, I had enemies.

I uncoiled my powerful hind legs and launched myself at Chapman. I don't know if the human part of him truly was in control or if the Yeerk was merely spinning a lie to confuse me. Whoever it was with control of that body, I've got to give them credit for being brave. He punched me in the side of my humongous head. I felt the fragile human finger bones snap under the force of my thick skull, but the blow didn't even faze me. It did deflect my mouth away from his shoulder, which I was aiming for. Unfortunately for Chapman, his blow deflected my deadly teeth away from his shoulder into his neck. One short, sudden shake of my head later, it was over.

He lay on the floor, not able to move, and opened his mouth to speak. I didn't think he'd be able to get any words out through the torn mess that used to be his throat, but he managed two words. "Thank…you."

I saw why those words had come out. The Yeerk, Efflit whatever, was halfway out of Chapman's left ear. It managed to squeeze out about the same time as Chapman let go his last breath. It began squirming across the floor towards a shadowed corner – I guess it realized that we weren't going to show it even as much compassion as I'd shown Chapman.

I looked at Amni'bel through tiger eyes and was pretty impressed. I thought I'd had her pegged pretty easily as no threat to us, but looking at her with the analytical gaze of a predator, I realized that I'd sorely underestimated her. Her body did not seem quite so frail – as a matter of fact, it was easy to see the way the sinews flexed against the scaly skin like steel cable. I could tell from the ease of the way she stood that she was quite confident in her abilities, and the piercing quality of her eyes took on a whole new level. The tiger in me wasn't afraid – it was never truly afraid – but it decided it would definitely look for a meal or a fight elsewhere. As I studied her, she gave an almost dismissive flick of her hand. A blur of movement caught my eye, over near the Yeerk –

-and I turned my head just as the nearest guard deftly snatched the Yeerk, tossed it into the air, and neatly sliced it in half with a well-aimed wrist blade. Nobody spoke. I demorphed. Still no one spoke. I looked at Amni'bel with a mix of admiration and curiousity. I decided that no matter how long it took, I would let the princess speak before I offered any words. It wasn't long.

"You speak the truth," she said finally. "On Xylen, parasites exist. Vile creatures who are not to be pitied but slaughtered. We will not make exceptions for off-world parasites, no matter how smart or advanced they are. They are parasites," she repeated, making a curse out of the word. "Nature itself made them dishonest, evil, and full of hate. These are parasitic qualities, and they will not be tolerated here. Myself and my tribe are at your service, Prince Jake. Prince Jake, the shape-shifter."

She shifted her gaze to Ax. "There is another in the palace, one like you. Smaller. Female, I think. I will have her detained." One of the guards bounded out, not waiting for orders. He returned a moment later.

"The other Andalite is gone," he said, his head bowed. Amni'bel looked angry, like she might strike the guard, when Ax spoke up.

(This Andalite, whoever she is, most likely has the morphing ability that you've just seen in Prince Jake. You will not find her until she wants to be found,) he told her a little arrogantly, which was usual when he spoke of his own people, even enemies. The princess visibly calmed.

"If you'd like, Jake, I'll brief the princess on our current threat – the Trunsk. I have studied the data files on them, and I can give Princess Amni'bel a good idea of what we'll be up against. I suggest you and Aximili meet with the others aboard the _Messenger _to inform them of recent developments," Toby offered. She sounded a little strange, and I remembered the whole methane thing that Ax had mentioned. 'Shouldn't she be over that by now?' I thought to myself, then shrugged it off. We needed everybody at their best, and Toby was giving me a way she could help.

"Thank you, Toby. It's a plan." I bowed to the princess, who was already leading Toby to a side room. No one came to escort us out, and I allowed a slight smile to come to my face. What did it mean that we were being allowed free run of the princess' palace? We were trusted. It was a nice change.

A/N – Short, I know. It just seemed like a good place to end it. Next chapter, which will more than likely be up in the next 12 – 24 hours, is in Jake's POV again. It'll be kind of angsty..that's all I can tell for now! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the rest to come. Bye, now.


	15. Chapter 14 Restless Night

A/N – Okay, it's official - there has been a screw-up. I'm actually surprised that it took this long to have one of these rear its ugly head. At the end of Chapter 12 – Princes and Princesses, there was a portion that was cut off. I'll try to fix it, but in the meantime, this is what happened. Chapman jokingly challenges Jake to a duel, which Amni'bel forces him to go through with. Jake gets to choose the weapon, and thanks to some foresight on Ax's part, he chooses hand-to-hand, or no weapons. Technically, Jake can morph and easily kick Chapman's ass. He was starting his tiger morph when the chapter ended, and that's where Chapter 13 – Hello, Chapman picks up. Sorry for the confusion, and I'll try my best to fix it soon.

Chapter 14

**Jake**

I tossed and turned in my bed aboard the _Messenger_, not able to comply with my own suggestion that everyone get some sleep. The princess had offered everyone staterooms in the palace, but I thought it would be better if we were all ready for trouble. Marco slept in the cockpit of his fighter, a hundred yards to the west of where the rest of us were. Ax and Rachel camped out on the bridge with all systems in standby mode, ready to deal with unforseen situations. Toby, after being diagnosed by the ship's computer with dangerously high levels of methane in her blood, was sleeping in the aft hold. I'd ordered the aft sealed after she'd gotten back so she could breathe recycled air for a few hours to bring her blood chemistry back into acceptable Hork-bajir norms. Tobias and Cassie, with Marco and Rachel elsewhere, had their rooms to themselves for the night.

I had decent-sized living quarters. _Solo _living quarters. Sometimes I wished I could trade with Tobias so I could be in the same room with Marco. Mostly I wanted to trade Rachel so I could be in the same room with Cassie. Sleeping alone was something I'd always had to do, and I still hadn't gotten the hang of it.

Cassie. As beautiful as ever, she'd come back into my life by some odd twist of fate. I'd let her get away from me before. _I was young, _I'd tell myself. _I didn't know any better. It wasn't the right time._ All of which were pretty much excuses so I wouldn't have to face my failure to keep my promise to her. The one I made before the Yeerks turned my town into a charcoal briquette. The same promise I made before I sent Rachel, my cousin, to kill Tom, my brother. Sometimes I was proud of myself for living through it and staying sane. Most of the time I kicked myself for being stupid.

_You might as well just give up, _a voice in my head told me. The voice, which was quickly becoming a permanent resident in my brain, was called doubt. _You got lucky with Rachel. Tom's never coming back. Chapman is never coming back. Even if you succeed here, how are you going to explain to his wife and daughter how you murdered him just to gain a little clout with some barbaric aliens?_

"Shut up," I said aloud. "Nobody asked you." I felt foolish, talking to a voice in my head, but it usually worked. Not this time.

_Cassie can see it, even if nobody else does yet, _the treacherous voice continued. _You notice how she keeps her distance from you? Like you've got some kind of disease. Cassie's not ever going to forgive your sins. Your parents aren't going to forgive you for killing Tom. You'll never know peace. Why are you fighting and suffering for people who don't give a damn about you?_

"Get _lost_!" I snarled, lashing out and punching the steel bulkhead next to my bed and instantly regretting it as pain shot through my arm. I latched on to the pain and used it as a ground wire to bring me into the present. I couldn't live in my regrets. I couldn't let my emotions do this to me, not if I were going to have a chance. I sat up and opened my eyes. Cassie, dressing in loose-fitting pants and a sleep shirt, stood in the doorway. I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it. I didn't know what to say, anyway.

She walking in and sat on the bed beside me. I wiped away tears I didn't remember crying. I couldn't act like this. Not in front of Cassie, of all people. She was the last person I could allow to see my weaknesses.

She gently put an arm around me. "Jake, what's wrong?" she asked kindly.

I wanted to say I was fine. I wanted to tell her I'd had a nightmare. I wanted to tell her that it was nothing, I was fine.

"I hate myself," I whispered instead. "I'm some jerk who thinks he's important. I take credit for evil actions. I'm…I don't know _what_ I am, Cassie."

She seemed to think it over. "The Ellimist picked you for a reason, Jake. I think it's because you can do what needs to be done. I think -"

"Of course I can do what needs to be done!" I snapped. "Anybody can! Why me? Everybody thinks I'm special, when I'm no better than anyone else." I sighed and calmed myself. "I never got to go to parties. I never got to have normal friends, ones that I could call just to hang out or something. I didn't get to graduate high school. I never got to have a girlfriend. I couldn't even make things work with _you_. I can't help thinking that the only reason you ever felt anything for me was because we had a bond. You know, by being animorphs."

"Jake, when did we stop being friends?" she asked. Her tone was still tender, but there was an undertone of steely strength.

I almost said 'we didn't' automatically, but actually stopped to consider the question. "I guess when you let Tom take the morphing cube."

She nodded. "That's what I thought. I can't blame you – it was a stupid, emotional thing for me to do. Have you forgiven me for it?"

"Of course," I said. "I never _totally _blamed you for it. You did what you thought was right at the time. How can someone hold that against you?"

"_Exactly_," she said, her face just inches from mine. "Jake, you have _always _done what you thought was right. No one can hold that against you. You can't even hold it against yourself. It was never what you did that made me want to stay away. It was the guilt and self-recrimination that you wore on your sleeve. You were obviously suffering, and I didn't think you'd listen to me then. It killed me to see you like that. You need to listen to me now. I understand that you are put into situations you don't want to be in. I understand that there isn't an instruction manual that says, 'How to Win the War Against the Trunsk and Crayak.' You're making it up as you go along. We all are. But as long as you listen to your heart and do what you think is best, we're all going to come out okay."

I considered her words. More than that, I actually listened. I took them to heart. What she was saying had already been said to me several times by different people, but it was always hollow. 'Follow your heart,' stuck in my head and started to echo, and I decided to implement it immediately.

I kissed her. It didn't take much – her face was already a couple of inches away from mine. I saw her eyes go wide and she started to resist a little, but I didn't let her go. I wasn't scared. I'd already lost her once – if it happened again, at least I would be able to say I tried. I felt her relax into the kiss, and I could have danced. Maybe she really did like me. Maybe it wasn't as bad as all that.

I disengaged my lips from hers and breathed, "Okay?" She nodded. We resumed for a few minutes, and they were easily the happiest minutes I'd had in years. I'd just laid back with Cassie in my arms, thinking I'd finally be able to get the sleep I needed. Cassie must have felt the same way, because within moments she was lightly snoring. It wasn't obnoxious in the least – as a matter of fact, it was pretty cute. I studied her face and the smooth skin of her neck and smiled. I kissed her cheek softly, so as not to wake her, and rested my head on the pillow. I was drifting off into the pure sleep that only happiness can bring when the shreik filled my head, jerking Cassie awake.

(Prince Jake! We have a _big _problem!) Ax yelled in thought speak.

A/N – I hope that was okay. For me, it's hard writing Jake like that. That should quiet down the J/C! J/C! reviewers for a while ;) . Within the next few chapters, I'll try to have something to indulge the R/T! R/T! people. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Bye for now.


	16. Chapter 15 Treachery

Chapter 15

**Tobias**

Ax's thought-speak cry jerked me awake as it echoed through my skull. No time to morph. I ordered the door to open and half flew, half hopped to the bridge where Rachel was groggily warming up the weapons. Ax was frantically stabbing buttons, trying to get the _Messenger _airborne as quickly as possible. Right behind me, Jake and Cassie charged into the bridge. (What's going on?) I asked, trying to think of a way I could help and not coming up with anything.

(A large flight of Taruff fighters are rapidly approaching our position. Sensors say between ten and twenty right now.) Ax paused to look at Jake grimly. (We're picking up a couple of bug fighters within the formation.) The engines whined as the ship tentatively rose into the still air. (This is a fight we cannot win, Prince Jake. With permission, I'm taking us out of atmosphere. We'll have a better chance against the two bug fighters, since the Taruff fighters are stictly atmospheric.)

I studied the displays. Between the rate they were gaining on us and the sluggishness of the cold-started _Messenger_, there was no way we were going to make it. Rachel had apparently come to the same conclusion. "It's gonna be a slugging match," she said tensely.

"_Messenger, _this is Mako one," Marco's voice floated over the intercom. The usual trace of humor was not present. "I'll stall them – get clear," he said grimly.

"Negative, Marco," Jake said. "You don't stand a chance. _You _get clear. We'll meet you in orbit."

Marco laughed, and there was not a bit of amusement in the sound. "Shut up. I can't make it home in this tin can by myself, and you'll never make it out of atmosphere without a diversion." His engines glowed brightly as he shot toward the huge enemy formation that was now visible with the naked eye. "At least I'll go out with a bang," he chuckled sadly.

He was right about one thing – he was the perfect diversion. The Taruff fighters, obviously aware of the honor shooting Marco down would bring them, all vectored in toward him, breaking their approach of the _Messenger._ Ax pointed the bow for space and punched it.

"Dammit, dammit…" Jake muttered, not able to tear his eyes away from the display that was rapidly counting down the distance between his best friend and certain death. I noticed something at the bottom of the display.

(Hey, what's that?) I asked, talking about the space on the ground between Marco and the traitorous Taruffs. Even as I spoke, energy shot up from the crevice toward the enemy formation, shredding it as ships exploded and went evasive. Eight Taruff fighters leapt up from the canyon I'd indicated and took up positions around Marco as they all roared toward the disoriented enemy flight.

"Elin offan ka!" A bass Taruff voice rumbled over the intercom. I counted the blips on the tactical combat screen and saw nine green and eleven reds. Especially with those bug fighters still out there, Marco was still outnumbered.

"_Messenger_, it's Lok! It's Lok! They're friendlies," Marco exclaimed.

"Bring us in, Ax. We're gonna turn the tables," Jake said. I could have cheered.

"We're getting a transmission from the palace, Jake," Cassie said.

"Put it through."

A holographic representation of Amni'bel's face appeared. I wasn't any good at reading Taruff facial expressions, but I'd have put my money on her being pissed. "Prince Jake, your attackers are the _Oberkahn_. They are vile mercenaries who sell their honor to the highest bidder. I am scrambling everything – palace security, air force, and all privately owned fighters who's owners I can persuede to fight." Sure enough, in the back of tactical screen, over a hundred green blips swarmed towards the engagement. "They will not draw another breath over the soil of my tribe."

Jake grimaced. "I appreciate the gesture, and I hope they're not too late to help." As he spoke, the two forces came into maximum range, and turbulant swirls of energy flew like rain. Fighters exploded on both sides, confusing the tactical display for a moment…and then it was a tornado of furious dogfighting. I noted that we'd taken heavy losses, though Marco was still among the living. Of the enemies, only two Taruffs and both bug fighters remained. As I watched, Marco launched a missile at a bug fighter, who dodged straight into an oncoming stream of friendly fire. The aft of the Yeerk ship ablaze, it slammed into the sand and disintegrated.

Obviously, we'd come into range of the dogfight ourselves. Rachel picked off the remaining bug fighter with a well-placed shot, and the two remaining Taruffs turned and hauled butt. Marco and the lone surviving Taruff started a lazy loop back towards the palace as the rest of the fighters swarmed past the _Messenger _in pursuit of the cowardly _Oberkahn._ Ax shadowed Marco's turn back towards Amni'bel's palace, and for once I actually appreciated Marco, and couldn't stop myself from saying so. (Mako..Marco, this is Tobias. Man, that took some balls,) I said grudgingly as Rachel shot me an incredulous look.

"Thanks, bird-man. I…wow. That _was _pretty brave, huh?" he asked jokingly, but I could still pick up on the undertone of adrenaline and wonder in his voice, as if even he didn't know he had it in him. If he would only _stay _this humble…

"Well, Tom Cruise can eat his heart out. Top Gun was a movie about a bunch of chumps compared to me. Note to Tom – _I _went to the danger zone. I went tooooo the dangah zooonnnneee!" he sang horribly over the intercom, and everyone with a mouth started groaning.

(Quiet down,) I said. (He's earned his little vacation from reality.) That got a laugh out of everybody as we all dropped into our previous landing areas in front of the palace. The engines of both craft powered down, and for once I felt perfectly safe.

If I'd thought we were heroes before, there was no doubting it now. The throng of blue-skinned humanoids around the _Messenger_ was nothing compared to the sheer amount of Taruffs who'd come out of the woodworks to surround Marco and Lok. They'd all picked up on Marco's name and made a chant out of it, and the number of voices involved reverberated through the thick steel hull of our ship. Marco climbed out of the cockpit, stood in the seat and raised his hands to all of the gathered people, who roared even louder than before. "This is just great," Jake said sarcastically, and Rachel shook her head vigorously in agreement. Ax just looked troubled.

(What is it, Ax-man?) I asked. I figured something must really be wrong if Ax wasn't enjoying our unforseen victory.

(How many of Crayak's team are here?) he wondered. (We've already gotten rid of two of them. This unknown Andalite is probably still here, inciting rogue Taruffs to try an assassinate us. Some of his team has to be at the Trunsk homeworld.)

Jake perked up a little. "Their tactics are pretty clear. They don't want us gaining the support of the Taruffs. They want to kill us off or alienate us from some or all of the people we're supposed to save while the other half of their team is probably with the Trunks, getting them all psyched-out and prepared to demolish the Taruffs. We need to have a brainstorm session and figure this out." He looked a lot more troubled than he had a few minutes ago.

(Who needs to be included in this meeting?) I asked. Rachel answered for Jake.

"All of us, obviously. I think Lok and Amni'bel should be there for it too. I mean, their input is going to mean a lot if we're going to prepare the Taruffs for war, right?" Jake nodded.

(I'll go get Marco, Lok, and Amni'bel. We can meet aboard the _Messenger_. I'll have them here as soon as possible.) Jake agreed, and I finally felt like I was going to get to do something to help. I flew out of the ship and started rounding everyone up, already trying to think of things we needed to do. If we were going to win this thing, we all needed to start thinking strategy – and fast.


	17. Chapter 16 Council of War

Chapter 16

**Jake**

Once everyone was assembled in the aft hold of the _Messenger_, I took charge of the meeting. It was necessary for Lok to be there, even though he was pretty much a distraction for the time being. The massive Taruff sat with his powerful, triple-jointed legs folded in a strange way. Even sitting, he towered over the rest of us. Marco had quietly explained to me that Lok was his _kalo_, or 'heterosexual partner for life,' as he'd put it, and I'd sighed and nodded. It added a new depth to our involvement here, but it wasn't entirely bad. Lok had already saved Marco's life once, and for that I was very grateful to him.

"All right. So we know that Crayak's team has divided their forces in half to better their chances against us," I said without preamble. "We know from the interrogation of the surviving _Oberkahn_ that none of Crayak's team were aboard the two bug fighters we shot down. Chapman and one of the Yeerks are down, which means we outnumber them seven to five now."

"We are eight," Lok said unsurely. In typical Taruff fashion he was quickly learning to understand English well, but his pronunciation was a bit laborious since he wasn't able to use the growls and barks he'd always used. "I am one of you."

"Damn straight," Rachel said, giving him a nod of respect. Rachel and Lok had hit it off well, probably because they were both insanely brave. Tobias, in human morph, was standing by Rachel. As I watched, he tried discreetly to hold her hand, which she ignored. He looked hurt, but Rachel was in battle mode. I knew she cared for Tobias, but she understood that when it was time to rumble, you couldn't let feelings for someone get in the way.

"I have my royal guards searching the main village for the Andalite," Amni'bel said, referring to the collection of homes and businesses of the middle and lower class Taruffs that was a few miles away from the palace. "If she is still lurking here, we will find her eventually."

"What's our next move?" Marco asked. I'd expected him to be obnoxious after his earlier battle, but he was obviously mature enough to realize that it wasn't the time. Lok was watching Marco's every move, already emulating his vocal mannerisms and gestures.

I sighed. This wasn't going to be received well, but I knew it was for the best. "We need to split our forces, just as Crayak has done. Half of us need to go to the Trunsk home planet and try our best to get some support on their side of things. If we can cause enough dissention over there, we won't have as much to worry about when they get here."

(Who goes and who stays?) Ax asked. I think he was a little dejected about the fact that I'd taken the role of leader instead of the dual control we'd agreed upon earlier. The Taruffs respected me and my friends looked to me for guidance. I understood that for years I'd been the leader and it was going to stay that way. Ax understood too, but I think he was embarrassed that even after his time as a Prince in the Andalite armed forces, he wasn't able to compete with me for the leadership role.

"We'll vote on it, but I'll tell you who I think should be where. Toby should definitely go, because she's not doing too good here. The methane levels of Xylen are higher than projected, and it's making her sick." I looked to her, and she nodded, alert but still glassy-eyed. "All indications are that the Trunsk are only going to respect warriors. Amni'bel tells me that they've been communicating for years, but the Trunsk are notorious liars."

"How have they been communicating? I thought the Trunsk weren't Z-space capable," Cassie frowned.

"They are not," Amni'bel grunted. "We've been sending fuel-powered messenger shuttles back and forth for as long as I can remember. It takes months to send or receive a probe, but we speak some of their language and as far as we can tell, they're fluent in Taruffian."

"Right," I said. "Being able to communicate is definitely a plus. That's why Lok and Marco should go – Lok will be able to translate for Marco. Add that to the fact that Marco's good in a fight and already a hero here, and we'll have a pretty good shot at getting the respect of at least some of these Trunsk. I think Rachel should go for the same reasons. The rest of us will stay here. Ax can help Taruff engineers modify their fighters for space flight and possibly even Z-space. Cassie will be a good public relations speaker for the general public. Me and Tobias can start versing the Taruffs' army in Yeerk tactics – how to defend against their weapons, their favorite battle strategies – those kinds of things."

"Um, Jake, I'm assuming the _Messenger's _staying here," Tobias said unhappily. I figured I'd get the most disagreement from him, since I wanted to split him and Rachel up. I knew Rachel could do the job I wanted her to do, but Tobias seemed to be intent on not letting her out of his sight. I understood why, but I couldn't afford to have him temper Rachel's fighting spirit. We needed it. "Marco's fighter can make the trip, but Lok, Rachel, and Toby have no way there."

Amni'bel waved his comment away. "We have copies of both of your ships' schematics. Our engineers are modifying three of our fighters for your body types and space flight as we speak. Your fighters will be ready within days." Her expression changed. "I think that maybe Marco should stay here. There is not a Taruff on Xylen who has not heard of his feats by now. Millions will rally to him to fight the Trunsk if he is present to lead them."

Ax scuffed his hoof. "I will earn the respect of the Taruff people," he said scornfully.

Amni'bel's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure that is wise?" she asked. Ax shrugged and scuffed his hoof against the deck again.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Cassie asked him.

(The Taruffs respect warriors. I will accept ground challenges until I have the unwavering faith of the population or until I fall.) I looked at him strangely and he looked elsewhere with all of his eyes. (It is the Taruff way, Prince Jake. It is what is required of a warrior in war time.)

I shrugged. If Ax thought it would help, then so be it. I had no doubt that he could defeat any Taruff alive in one-on-one melee combat. "So, there you go. If everyone agrees, we'll start hammering this into a real plan." Tobias looked distinctly unhappy, but did not object.

Amni'bel, obviously very used to getting her way, spoke again. "Marco, are you sure you will not stay and bask in the honor you have earned from the Taruffs?"

Marco laughed. "As much as I'd love to do a little honor-basking, I think Jake's got a lot of good points. I'll go." Amni'bel started to argue, but Lok grunted deep in his throat. I got the impression that Lok didn't care who Amni'bel was – princess or not, he was going to fulfill his promise to have Marco's back 24/7.

"Marco and I leave as soon as fighters are ready," he said forcefully. No one was going to argue with the big guy. Not even Princess Amni'bel.

"Then, if we are done here, I'd have a word with you in private, Prince Jake," she said to me. I nodded.

"If everyone knows what to do, get to it. Pack you stuff, say your goodbyes. We've all got a lot to do, but have a little time to yourselves before you throw yourselves into it. I'll meet up with you guys later," I said, politely dismissing everybody. Everyone left but Rachel. Tobias stopped when he realized that Rachel wasn't coming, but Rachel waved him on. He turned, obviously mad, and slapped the door control shut. Rachel stood there with her arms crossed, looking at me evaluatingly. "What?" I asked, and realized that Amni'bel was looking at me in the same way.

"Jake, the princess and I have been talking a little. Are you sure you can handle all this by yourself? Things are bound to get harder with me, Marco, and Toby gone," Rachel said, seemingly sizing me up. Amni'bel just looked at me, and I felt like my mind was being read or something.

It came to me so fast I could have slapped myself. "You've been reading my mind," I accused Amni'bel. "You saw that I'm not some fearless, unshakable war commander, so you go to my cousin who _is_."

Amni'bel slowly shook her head. "No, Prince Jake. I cannot read your mind, but I feel your dismay at sending your friends away. I also sense much doubt in you."

I looked at her slack-jawed. "Of course I'm doubtful and dismayed of sending my friends to an unknown, hostile planet. You Taruffs _can't _be so brave that you don't have doubt. No one is."

"Amni'bel had a suggestion, and I happen to agree with it," Rachel said. "Of course you're unsure of how this is going to turn out. You can't see the future. You need to do everything possible to maximize our chances of winning. We need to stack the deck in our favor."

Amni'bel picked up where she left off. "Rachel tells me that we have a good bit of time to prepare, perhaps even as much as a year. It will take Marco's group perhaps two weeks to reach the Trunsk world. It did not even take you a month to get here from Earth in Z-space. We are ready to fight. We will not be enslaved. We would rather die – and I am speaking for all of my people. It is not in their character to allow this to happen."

I sighed. They had me pegged on the doubt and being afraid thing, but Rachel was overlooking one big thing. "Princess, I have no idea _what _the Trunsk are going to do. There's a good chance that the Yeerks aren't even involved in force. Crayak may settle for pouring enough firepower into your world until every last Taruff is dead. He can win that way, and it'd be much easier."

"That could be true, Jake, but how does that have anything to do with turning the tables? This has got to be Crayak's way of thinking – worst case scenario, every Taruff fights a war with the Trunsk. The Trunsk are more warlike, so Crayak assumes they'll win. The Trunsk, however warlike, aren't morons. If they know going into the fight they can't win, chances are they won't even try. We'll have won without firing a shot," Rachel said enthusiastically.

I leaned back and resisted the urge to whistle. She had a good point, but we needed support from outside of the system. "I like it, but what do you suggest? I can't just snap my fingers and summon up a battle fleet," I said.

Amni'bel canted her head in the Taruff gesture of amusement. "Ah, but maybe your Andalite can. You said he was a great hero among his people, no? Would they not rally to him?"

"They might," I said slowly. "Even if he went to ask the Andalite home world to loan him some dome ships, we'd still need the Taruffs here to respect us enough to fight behind us. Ax's skill with his tail blade is the only way to gain that respect, unless you've got a better idea."

"Well, that's what the princess and I have been talking about lately," Rachel said, a little abashed. I guess she was embarrassed for not coming to me sooner. "The Taruffs have already seen you get the best of one of the princess' honor guard. You could do it again. We could guarantee that you wouldn't get hurt."

I looked at Amni'bel in disbelief. "You two are telling me that you'd be able to _rig_ the challenges so I'd win?" I asked incredulously. "I thought you Taruffs were all 'honor or death,' or whatever."

She looked ashamed, and covered it by raising her veil. "The ways of my people may work against us for the time being. Deception is necessary. It will be forgotten if we win, and if we lose, no one will be alive to remember," she reminded me.

I thought hard and fast, and decided that Rachel and Amni'bel seemed to have everything figured out. I smiled slowly. "I'm not too proud to take good advice when it's offered," I said. "I think you guys have thought this out a lot more than I have. I'm going to go prepare a message for Earth and the Andalites explaining the situation and asking for all the support they can give us. Keep me up to date with your plans – I'm going to go sit down by myself and figure out the best way to go about this." Rachel and Amni'bel exchanged a look that seemed to me like two little girls that had just outsmarted a parent. They left in a hurry, and I said to empty air, "Jake, you're a conservative old man in charge of a bunch of kids who are too smart for their own good. Get with the program, man." I walked to my room and started working at my computer terminal, intent on the task of making every uncertainty a certainty.


	18. Chapter 17 Alien Twilight

A/N – I just want to say thanks again for all the great reviews. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that there were people out there that were kind enough to review not only once, but every chapter. I know it's easy just to read through something and not take the time to click that little review button, but you guys do it for me and it's the best motivation in the world. Every chapter, you guys challenge me, ask questions, give suggestions and even go so far as to note little grammatical errors that I sometimes make. By the way, I hope you can overlook the grammar and misuse of "" and ()…I try not to do it, but it's inevitable since I'm trying to put these chapters up as quickly as possible. Anyway, I just really really wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate it. I'm about to do some things that some people won't like, but I can't please everybody all the time. Just keep in mind that I'm an Animorphs fan too, and everything will come together in the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 17

**Rachel**

After getting Jake to start thinking about all of his options, I went looking for Tobias. It didn't take long – he was making broad circles over the palace. I waved him down and walked over to the edge of our landing area, trying not to lose my balance on the tricky terrain. The black sand that made up the soil of Xylen was more like dust than sand grains. I sat on a black, glassy rock that had been formed when a laser blast had hit the sand, superheating and fusing it into the smooth obsidian boulder that served as my seat. Tobias quietly demorphed and sat beside me.

I didn't speak for a long time, and neither did he. He held my hand and we looked out over the strange, alien landscape. Between the black sand, the purplish twilight, and the blue tint the atmosphere gave the moon, Xylen looked like the birthplace of Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers, and every other horror movie villain I'd ever seen. The sounds made it a little less intimidating. Little flying lizards would come out of nowhere, chirping to each other in their sing-song voices. Things that looked a cross between a baby alligator and a snake would jump up out of the sand, trying to catch a lizard who'd become careless enough to wander in range of its pit. The dark, fast-moving clouds darted across the moon, casting strange shadows on everything.

"I missed you, Rachel," Tobias said quietly. I heard his voice crack and didn't look at him. I didn't want to see the tears on his face. If I did, I didn't think I'd be able to stop my own from coming.

"Tobias…you have to understand," I said gently. There was no way this was going to be easy, but I needed to tell him. "I was dead. I don't know what the afterlife was. If there was one, I didn't go there. At least not to one of the places you read in the bible or whatever. I can't help thinking that I was just put on hold by the Ellimist, but I wonder if even he knew that he was going to need me again. I wasn't able to think, wherever I was – it just wasn't an option. It's like my body was gone, and I was made up of just emotions. Regret was a big one. I was lonely, but it wasn't the way you think. I can't get my head around it, and I was there."

"In other words, being dead sucks," I said, half-joking. "But as bad as it was, being alive knowing I hadn't done all I could to prevent the spread of evil would have been worse. Tobias, I care about you. A lot. But you've got to understand that we have a job to do, and it's a million times more important than the last one. You might say, 'Oh, it's not fair, we never got to have a childhood,' or whatever, but me, you, Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Ax are the most important people this galaxy have ever known. If we succeed, in a million years people are still going to know our names. They'll know we were the reason they're alive."

"Don't you think I know that?" he said angrily, which surprised me. "I don't suppose you've stopped to think about what the past few years have been like for me. Every day I would ache from losing you, and it didn't get better with time. If anything, it got worse. Every night before I went to sleep, I would ask whoever was out there to not let me wake up. I went on living after you were gone, Rachel, because I knew that's what you would have wanted. But I was just going through the motions. I was never really alive after you went away." I started to interrupt, but he stalled me by holding his hand up. "I'm not finished," he said with an edge I didn't remember him possessing. "I hated Jake. I hated him for what he sent you to do. I knew that he was right, but I hated him anyway. Then he comes to me and says, 'Ax got kidnapped while looking for the Blade ship,' with the implication that if we found Ax, we'd find the Blade ship. I could blow it up and avenge your death. I took off with Jake and prayed for the day we'd find it."

"The last thing I remember before seeing you again was Jake ordering Menderash to ram the Blade ship. I remember seeing that ship…that monument to evil filling up the viewscreen, and I knew I was about to die. You know what? I welcomed it," he said fiercely. "I was about to be with you again by dying to avenge your death. It sounds ridiculous, right? Something straight from Shakespeare." He reached up and tilted my head to face him, and I locked my jaw. His face was tear staned, but there was a look in his eye that I couldn't ever remember being there. I wasn't sure if it was desperation, fear, or determination, but it looked good on him. "Then, enter the Ellimist. He says, 'Oh, by the way, here's another chance. A chance for you to start over.' Rachel, that just doesn't _happen_. I still can't believe it. What am I supposed to do? Let you go off and get yourself killed again?"

I dug my bare toes in the sand. As much as I felt for Tobias right now, I still wasn't thinking clearly. Old ways of thinking died hard, and I wasn't sure I wanted them to die at all. "You know, I don't know whether to slap you or kiss you," I told him a little more harshly than I'd meant to. "I know you missed me. A part of me appreciates it. But come on Tobias – you _know_ damn good and well I'd have wanted you to get on with your life. The war was over – you should have morphed to human, waited for two hours, and enjoyed yourself. If I would have made it through, you know what I would have done?" I asked him, and he shook his head no. His tears had stopped coming now, and I was starting to feel a little better. "I'd have walked straight to the mall. I'd go into the middle of the food court and yell, 'Hey, it's me, Rachel Berenson! I just saved all of you from horrible deaths or alien infestation, so I'm going shopping until I can't do it anymore, and I'm not paying for a damn thing!'"

Tobias actually chuckled. "You know, I can actually see you doing that. If we make it through this, I think I'll do just that."

"Do what?"

"Morph to human for good. Go shopping with you. Maybe get a place for me…and you," he said hesitantly.

I smiled and kissed him. "That sounds like the best idea I've ever heard."

His good cheer faded and he sighed. "I guess there's no stopping you from going with Marco to the planet of the psychos. I'm not sure that I want to stop you. Please come back alive. I want to go shopping."

I smiled again. "Of course. You teach these Taruffs how to kick Yeerk ass, and I'll go tell the Trunsk they're fighting on the wrong side. If they don't believe me, I'll prove it," I said, showing teeth.

Tobias chuckled. "I missed that smile every day. That insane, 'you-don't-know-who-you're-messing-with smile.' I never thought I'd see it again."

"You'll be seeing a lot of it." I looked Tobias up and down. "You know, you look pretty good in bike shorts, but we are going to _have _to get something better, something matching. I mean, come on – it's about time the animorphs started looking like the superheroes that we are."

He kissed me and I stopped talking. I rested my head on his shoulder, and we sat there for a long while, just the two of us. Sitting on a rock in a strange alien desert with Tobias. There's nowhere I'd have rather been.


	19. Chapter 18 Mako Squadron

A/N – Okay. Deep breath. I'm going to let this story take its twist very soon. I've been planning it from the beginning, but I have the feeling that it's not going to be received well with my much loved and appreciated reviewers. Gotta do it though. I think K.A. would be proud of me for it. Now that I've filled you with a sense of foreboding, I'll make you a couple of promises. I _promise _that if you stick with this story to the end, none of you will be disappointed. Well, that's my devout hope anyway, and I'm pretty sure I'm not telling you a lie. I also _promise _you I will not leave this story open-ended, or a 'cliffhanger.' It's hard for me not to just rush through this story so I can get to my great, wonderful, well thought-out ending which I am 99 certain everyone will just adore. Just stick with me, folks – things are about to get a little crazy. Peace. Out.

Chapter 18

**Marco**

I was tired. I was irritable. I hadn't had a decent bit of sleep in three days. But I felt accomplished, and I knew I wouldn't have been able to sleep well anyway if I weren't confident in the abilities of the friends who were trusting their lives to me.

I'd never been in charge of anything before. I'd never really felt the need to tell people what to do, especially in life or death situations. I like to think of myself as someone who didn't let stardom get to my head. When people started throwing money at me and groveling at my feet, I'm proud of the fact that I didn't become some stuck-up jerk who was too self-important to talk to my parents or whatever. I enjoyed some pretty luxurious pleasures back on Earth, but hey, what was the point of living if it wasn't fun, right?

I'd spent the last seventy-two hours trying to mold Rachel, Toby, and Lok into the best fighter pilots I could make them. I hadn't been flying for that long myself, but I just so happened to have a knack for it. I guess that's why I had always stomped all over poor Jake at video games. It was an unfair advantage borne of my superior intellect and supernatural talent.

Surprisingly, Lok was the hardest one to train up to the standards I'd unconsciously set for the three of them. Rachel had good reflexes and instincts, even if she did have an itchy trigger-finger. I was trying to break her of the habit of wasting energy on long-range pot shots, something I'd learned years ago in X-wing vs. TIE Fighter. Toby, with her natural technical inclination and her amazing, computer-like analysis and interpretation of unforseen situations, swiftly gained my unwavering confidence. Lok, however, was a terrible pilot under the standards that I wanted my pilots to have.

He had spent all of his life on the most extreme end of the crazy Taruff honor spectrum. After seeing his tactics in the simulations, I was astounded that he was still alive. As Jake had put it, Lok was the poster boy for the phrase 'honor-or-death.' He kept his word to me and tried his best to do what I told him, but his habits were dying hard.

First of all, his tactics when engaging enemies were pretty much non-existant. He'd jet straight for the target that destroying would bring him the most honor. It was a tooth-grinding exercise in patience trying to get him to abide by the wingman theory. Having someone always watching your back and always watching theirs was the best way to stay alive, but Taruffs didn't have them. They didn't understand the concept…but Lok accepted it, albeit reluctantly, and tried his best to retrain himself.

Teaching him threat analysis, astronavigation, and safety procedures was coming along slowly at best. By the time our fighters were spaceworthy, he was to the point of restraining himself when targets presented themselves and waiting for my command. That was pretty much all I could ask for on such a short timeline – when he followed my lead, his skill was nothing brilliant, but his kill/loss ratio was climbing up in the neighborhood of Rachel's, the third-best pilot among us by my opinion. Toby was easily second, and of course, I was by far the best.

As we said our goodbyes to Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Amni'bel, Ax, and even Hali, who turned out to be Lok's sister, a couple of emotional things happened. Rachel and Tobias went into the _Messenger _to say goodbye in private. I didn't know exactly what they were doing, but to be honest, I was a little jealous. Not of Tobias, _per se_ – Rachel was about the hottest girl I'd ever seen, but she was just _insane_. Smart, too, which I would never admit to feeling about her. It's not that I had anything against smart chicks, but I liked my girls…well, there's no way to say it without looking like an ass. I liked bimbos. I'm sure growing up in California had everything to do with that and it was no fault of my own, but hey – I like what I like.

I guess it was just the fact that I had no one of my own. Jake had Cassie, even if they didn't want to admit it to anyone. Tobias had Rachel. I guess Toby and Ax probably felt aloof sometimes, but they had an excuse. There wasn't a member of the same species, much less the opposite sex, within parsecs of them. Well, maybe with Ax there was an Andalite female around, but in all likelihood she was evil and vindictive. I'm pretty sure Ax wouldn't find those traits endearing. The fact that there was an Andalite working with the Yeerks made him look like he'd just caught somebody peeing on his feeding grass. I think the main reason he was so reluctant to personally carry the message Jake had prepared for his people was because he felt like it was his responsibility to find and deal with the traitorous Andalite.

Jake gestured to me and started walking, and I fell into step. "So, pretty big mission you're going on, man," he said to me. I know he liked to strike the 'infallable leader' pose in front of the others, but I was still his old bud. I looked back and saw Lok following us at a discreet distance, staying true to his word to protect me.

"Yep. Of course, I'll handle it with my customary skill and efficiency and be back here to keep you out of trouble before you know it," I joked.

He turned serious, but didn't want me to see it. He bent to pick up a stone and skipped it across the loose sand. "You think you can keep everybody in one piece?" he asked.

I wanted to hiss, because he'd hit the nail on the head – I was confident in myself and my abilities, but like I said, I'd never led anyone before. "Rachel and Toby are going to make a good wingpair as long as Rachel follows Toby's lead. I'm pretty sure I've got Lok where I need him to be. I know -"

'Stop it. Tell me what you're really thinking.'

'I don't know." I sighed. "Jake, there's a good chance that some or all of us might die. It's my job to make sure we don't. I don't know how you did it all those years. It's hard enough just to fight. I can't imagine making split-second decisions the way you always have."

Jake nodded. "I won't lie to you – it's not easy. It's just something that has to be done."

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes. "How _is_ everybody coming along in the fighters?" Jake asked to break the ice.

"Oh, well you already know I'm the best. That's why I get to lead this crazy trip. Rachel's good, but she's got some habits to break before I can call her proficient. Toby's picked it up really quick. I chose Lok as my wingman so hopefully I'll be able to protect him in spite of himself." We turned around and headed back before we could totally get out of sight of the group, but I walked slowly on purpose. "What do you think?"

"Hmm? Of what?" he asked, even though I was pretty sure he knew what I meant.

"I mean, come on. You've known me forever. Do you really think I can pull this off?" I asked, hating every syllable. I wasn't always sure of myself, but that didn't mean _others _had to know that.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's not _you _I'm worried about," he said, chewing his lip. "You'd think that dying once would inspire Rachel to be a little more careful, but she's crazier than ever. I haven't even forgiven myself for letting her go once. If it happened again…I don't know what I'd do."

I punched him in the arm. Hard. He gave me a dirty look and grumbled, but he didn't hit me back. "You're a real asshole, you know that?" I told him as I glared at him.

"_What?_" he asked, openly surprised.

"You're supposed to be making _me _feel better. How do you think _I'd _feel if anyone ate it while I was in charge?"

"Well, that's true. I guess you'll just have to get everyone back in spite of themselves."

"Yeah. If somebody didn't come back, I'd have to go on TV and explain it to everybody. That's what we call negative publicity."

Jake snickered. "Reasonable. We wouldn't want your ratings to suffer."

"Oh, man," I groaned. "Speaking of ratings, my show is going to be dead in the water without me. It's going to take a miracle to start it up again. I'm sure I'm going to have to get some new funding, my director's probably moved on to something else, I don't even want to _think_ about what the supporting cast is doing…" Jake burst out laughing and I glared again.

"You're so…_respectable_ now," he said.

"Well, I guess I _could _just live off of my reputation for the rest of my life. I like new cars too much to just scrape by, though." I scratched my head. "You know, you're actually pretty fun when we're not in the middle of a fight of when nobody's dead."

He sighed. "Yeah. That's why I'm reluctant to let you guys take off like you're doing. I mean, as dangerous as being here is, it's probably the safest place. I just want all of us to be able to go back to Earth and pretend like this never happened. Me, you, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias could all hang out together like old times. Not a care in the world."

"Since when are you happy when genocide isn't threatening some remote corner of the galaxy?"

"Since my cousin came back from the dead. Since I realized that life sucks if you can't kick back and enjoy it," he said seriously. We were almost back to everybody, and Rachel and Tobias were back with the group. "Take care of them, okay?" he asked me, not a hint of joking in his voice.

"Yeah. Take care of things here. I'll be back soon," I said, slapping his hand. He caught it and held it a second longer than usual, and I saw the worry in his eyes. "Jake, I'll die before I let anything happen to her," I said quietly so only he heard. He knew who I was talking about and he nodded.

Rachel gave Tobias a quick kiss on the cheek and scampered up the wing of one of the gleaming new fighters the Taruffs had modified. It was smaller than one of their standard fighters and looked suspiciously like an F-16 with oversized engines. She pulled a helmet over her mane of blond hair and said, "If you two are done, I'd like to get this overwith," she said. I couldn't tell if she was serious or joking or a mix of the two.

Lok bounced his three-fingered fist off of his chest twice. "We go now," he said, but I could tell it was more a question than a statement. I nodded and hit my chest in an echo of the gesture he'd made. "For honor," he grunted, and fired his huge legs. He landed neatly in the open cockpit of his own fighter and closed the canopy. Toby was already sealed in her own cockpit, trying to stay out of the toxic atmosphere as much as possible.

Ax was about to board the _Messenger_ for his own mission, but he nodded graciously to me. (I imagine that your skills will keep everyone safe,) he said to me stiffly. I knew he often got formal when he was emotional.

I grinned. "You going to be able to handle that hunk of trash without me to protect you?"

He loosened a little and did his Andalite smile. (You remind me of Elfangor's friend Verenor. He was a fighter pilot, very cocky, very good. I would not mind having you command my fighters aboard the _Intrepid_.)

I kind of faltered a little at the comment. Ax, who was very touchy about his belief that Andalites were superior to humans in every way, had just told me he'd rather have me command his fighter squadron than an Andalite. The funny thing was that I probably didn't totally understand the extend of his compliment. "Thanks, Ax-man. I might help train some of your pilots up to my standards after we get done with this milk run." He did his Andalite salute and favored me with another alien smile before wordlessly boarding his ship.

"Bring her back, Marco," Tobias said as I was climbing the ladder to my cockpit. "You get her back here. Promise me." He sounded more pleading than mad. Looking into the eyes of that boy, I wondered, not for the first time, how much pain he'd known in his life.

I grinned, but it was all teeth. "If she doesn't come back, neither will I. I promise you _that_," I told him. He nodded, knowing that was the best I could reasonably offer. I dogged the canopy closed and powered up my systems. "Call 'em out in order, Makos," I said, feeling nerdy and excited at the same time.

"Mako Two, ready to burn," Lok said.

"Mako Three, all systems nominal," Toby said, still a little subdued sounding.

"Are you going to make it, Three?" I asked her, concerned.

"I'll be fine. I feel better already," she comforted me.

"Four? Status?" I asked. Rachel's voice returned, but a lot of cussing and negative comments in general were all that I heard. "Rachel?"

"Yeah, I'm here. The Taruffs put the damn throttle control on the roof of my canopy. I took off my helmet to fix my hair and slammed my head on it," Rachel complained, and I smiled.

"It's not a beauty contest, Four. You set for space?"

"Yeah. Let's get the hell off this rock," she said.

I keyed a different switch on my communications board and said, "This is Mako leader to control, requesting permission to launch."

Amni'bel's voice answered me. "Permission granted, Marco. Be safe and return victorious," she told me.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Princess," I said. I lifted my fighter up on it's anti-gravity field and noted that everyone else followed my maneuver smoothly. There was nothing to worry about. "Full burn in fifteen seconds, Makos," I said, and inverted my fighter to wave at Jake, Cassie, and Tobias. Ax joined us in the air, but rocketed off in a different direction than the four of us. "Full burn," I said, and we all blazed out of the atmosphere towards the last planet we might ever see.


	20. Chapter 19 Contact

A/N – Okay, one last time, my little plot twist is upcoming. You'll know it when you read it – if it's not this chapter, it will be in one of the next two. I'm trying to decide the best place to insert it. Again, when you read it, _please _try to contain yourselves and stick with me. Thanks again for all the support you've shown, and enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 19

**Rachel**

"This is boring," I complained for the millionth time since we left Xylen. We were at full burn, but we'd been gone for five days and still had about five more to go. "Why couldn't we just take the _Messenger _and use Z-space?"

"Because Ax's home is a lot farther, plus we're going to need to defend ourselves when we get where we're going. Ax won't," Marco explained patiently to me for the millionth time. I knew this already, I was just dead set on making Marco as aggrivated as he'd always made me. It was working, I could tell.

"Ax had better have a battle fleet hanging out in orbit when we get back," I grumbled. "He'd better have something to show for the fact I had to sit still in this damn chair for ten days."

"Yeah, you're right," Marco agreed. "At least we don't have to use those tube-and-bladder rigs Amni'bel gave us," he pointed out. He was definitely right about that. They were used for Taruff pilots on extended campaigns when they couldn't leave the cockpit. I had been apalled and almost told everybody to forget the mission, but Ax had a solution. He'd synthesized up some 'homeostatics,' which apparently kept all the body's systems in perfect harmony. We wouldn't have to eat, or more importantly, use the bathroom for almost two weeks with each pill. A steady diet of them would ruin one's health in short order, but Ax had assured us we'd be okay just taking them for this mission.

"Want to play Battleship again?" I asked. Toby, who apparently was a decent computer programmer, had provided us a Battleship-like game in short order after Marco had described it to her. I got the feeling she was just as sick of the complaining as anyone else and did it to shut us up.

"Eh…no," Marco said. "After losing forty games and winning about that many, I think it's clear that we're not going to get a grand champion."

I keyed my communicator to pick up the frequency that Lok and Toby were using, but quickly shut it off. Rough barks of the Taruffs' native speech and the snake-like hisses of the Hork-bajir were flying back and forth like so many insults. I guessed they were teaching each other their respective languages to pass the time. I leaned back and settled in for a nap, although I was to the point where I was getting too much sleep as it was. You know, when you have nothing to do _but _sleep, and it makes you feel sick? But what else was I supposed to do? I was bored out of my mind.

My communicator popped. "Contact!" Toby said harshly.

Marco came across instantly, all business. "On my mark, ease down to zero thrust and shut down all systems except life support and passive sensors. Mark." We all slowed to a stop and everybody's ship started going dark. "That includes your running lights, Rachel. Snap it up," Marco said quickly. I realized I hadn't turned off the red lights at my wingtips and quickly did so. No one spoke for a long few moments.

We hadn't practiced this drill, but Marco had gone over the theory behind it. We figured we still had some time before the Trunsk came to Xylen, but it was always good to be prepared. Toby, more observant than anyone else as usual, had picked up a sensor reading that could possibly be a ship. If the Trunsk were on their way to Xylen in force already, there wasn't much we'd be able to do to stop them. We might hurt them in an ambush – they certainly wouldn't be expecting to be attacked on the way there – but there probably wasn't any way we could get out of it alive. I powered down the communicator to minimum and aimed it in a tight-beam transmission to Marco's ship. "What are we going to do if it's their fleet?" I whispered unnecessarily, as if my voice would carry through space all the way to the enemy.

"Probably run," Marco said grimly. "I suppose we could run into their cruisers like bugs hitting a windshield. That might make them mad enough to turn around."

"Be serious, Marco!" I hissed. "Are we really going to run away?"

"I don't know. If there's even the slightest chance that we can take them out, I guess we're going to have to take it and hope for the best."

I was nervous, but there was nothing to do but wait and see if the anomalous signal Toby'd picked up was enemy ships or just a mistake of the newly programmed Taruff computer. I knew that more than likely there'd be fighting involved when I agreed to this mission, but I hadn't stopped to think about it. One on one, on the ground where I could morph, I'd take anybody. But I'd only been flying a starfighter for a week. I could do it, but that didn't mean I was good at it. I wasn't Marco, some video game junkie who's skills actually translated into something useful in the real world. I liked to shop, I liked to kick ass, and I liked Tobias. It occurred to me how badly I didn't want to be here, hanging in zero-gravity in a fragile conglomoration of metal, electronics, and compartmentalized power.

Toby spoke again. "Tune your sensors to 576.11. No, wait. They probably won't pick up one tight-beam sensor bounce, but they might notice four. I'll send the data to you secondhand." A moment later, my worst fears were confirmed.

Fourteen ships. Four were cruisers with hundreds of gun turrets, easily a half of a mile long each. The other eight were smaller, but any one of them was more than a match for the four starfighters we commanded. I thought about Marco's bug-on-the-windshield joke and grimaced. Even if we did run all of our fighters into one of the ships, they probably wouldn't even notice.

Marco's voice was grim. "Don't worry, guys. I know when to keep my head down. Toby, can you send Jake a message without it being intercepted?"

"No. It would definitely be intercepted, and I don't think the Trunsk would be kind enough to re-transmit it for me," she said humorlessly.

"Fine," he said. "You should be able to easily outrun them. You'll take the message to Jake personally. The Trunsk will probably just assume you were a scout that retreated before their all-powerful star fleet."

"What about us?" I asked.

I could see the smile on his face in my mind's eye. "We're going to get ourselves killed. That's more than likely all the Trunsk have to throw at us right now – their home planet is going to be defenseless. We're going to go in and assassinate their leader, ending this damn thing once and for all. You guys don't have a problem with that, do you?" he asked with an edge in his voice.

"Where you go, I will follow," Lok said forcefully.

I had my doubts, but kept them to myself. "Gotta do what we gotta do," I said, forcing a cheer into my voice that I definitely didn't feel.

"All right, then," Marco said. "Toby, power down your sensors – slowly, now – and I'll turn up the gain on mine. Smooth transition so they don't pick up the difference. All right, I've got it. You're clear to head back. Don't dawdle, Toby…I'm pretty sure you're faster than they are, but we don't want to take any chances." I suppressed an urge to compliment Marco. To me, he'd always been the most reluctant one to fight, the one least suited to commanding a mission like this. He was proving me wrong. He was competant and plenty smart about his decisions.

Toby ran her ship slowly away for a few moments, not turning on any of her lights or powering up any systems that weren't absolutely necessary. I guess she was trying to get as far away from us as possible before being detected. I watched her until she was out of the sight my naked eye was capable of.

"How long do we wait?" I asked Marco, and he shushed me. I wanted to respond indignantly, but I let it go. He had more important things to concentrate on than squabbling with me.

"They see her," he commented. "They're deploying fighters, but once they realize that she's too far away and she's not attacking, they'll bring 'em back in." He lit up the engines of his own fighter once he was confident we were out of sensor range and asked Lok and I to do the same. Soon after, there was never any sign we'd been anywhere near another ship…or any sign that Toby'd ever been with us.

A thought occurred to me. "Hey, Marco? What if the Trunsk _do _have more ships? What if they have some anti-starfighter artillery?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess we're in for a fight," he said slowly. I don't know what I was expecting him to say – he didn't know any more than I did. I wanted to be reassured, and he had no reassurances to give.

"Do you even know who their leader is? Or where he is?" I asked, hoping for him to say he knew something. That he knew _anything_.

"Nope. We'll figure it out probably by where we draw the most fire from as we approach the planet," he said.

"Quit joking!" I snapped, feeling tense, anxious…and once again, hating the damn fighter I was strapped into. This was crazy. I wasn't some star pilot. Jake pointed to where he needed me to kick ass, and I went and did it. Simple as that.

"I'm not joking," he replied grimly. "Once we get into the atmosphere, we'll probably be fine. Even if we have to eject, we'll be able to morph to birds. Once we get on planet, we'll have a good advantage with our morphs."

"What about Lok?" I asked, instantly regretting the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. He'd been so quiet, I'd forgot he was listening.

"I will do what is required of me," Lok said, and I caught a glimpse of movement from inside his cockpit. I guessed he was probably doing his King Kong chest-pound or something. "I do not fear death."

"You should," I said bluntly. I knew it was stupid of me, but he was probably over there sitting in his cockpit thinking about what a wuss I was for being scared. And it pissed me off. "You think I don't know what it's like to stare death in the face? I've been there, buddy, and you _should _fear death. It isn't fun."

"I do not _fear _death, but neither do I wish for it," he replied. "I, too, have been faced with no more life. I made peace a long time ago, young one. I do not wish to leave my sister alone. I will still do what is required of me. For honor," he finished, and I shook my head. It wasn't like me to get mad at someone for being exactly how I used to be. Hell, that was the reason I liked Lok so much – he reminded me of myself.

"I'm sorry, Lok. I'm just ready to get this overwith," I apologized.

"No need for sorry, my little sun-hair," he said affectionately. Sun-hair was his name for me, because I was blond, I guess. Normally, I wasn't the kind of girl to go for pet names. I happened to think it was pretty sweet that this humongous alien liked me enough to give me one, so I just took it in stride. "I know you are brave. I know of your feats. I know of your return from beyond. I wish you to know that I will be just as brave as you are."

"I know you will," I reassured him. "Hey, Marco?" I received no answer and swore. It would be in the nature of this sideways mission for the leader to not be able to communicate with the rest of us. "_Marco!_"

"Huh? What?" he grumbled. "I'm sleeping! You should try it sometime!"

"I can't," I said simply. We had nothing to do for days. If I wasn't going to be able to sleep, neither was Marco. I don't know why I wanted to be so difficult for him – like I said, I guess I just wanted to pay him back for all those years he annoyed me, in case I never got another chance to do it. After all, our mission _was_ pretty much suicidal.

He sighed. "Wanna know a secret? Pop open the left arm of your chair," he instructed. I did, and saw a few tube-like things. "One of those bottles has sleeping pills. Take a couple, but make sure Lok is watching his sensor board first. And only use them when you need 'em – I don't want you becoming a junkie."

I found the ones he was talking about, and after ascertaining that Lok was, in fact, alert at the sensors, took two of them. "What are the other ones?" I asked about the other assorted tubes.

"Nutrient pills, artificial adrenaline – which we both know you'll never need , and more of those homeostatics."

"Oh," I said, feeling an immediate wash of chemical sleepiness invade my brain. "How long will this last?" I asked, suddenly worried about running into some more Trunsk warships and not being able to wake up.

"A few minutes," Marco reassured me. "Just long enough for it to _put _you to sleep. It won't keep you there – you have to do that on your own."

"That won't be a problem," I said, shutting my eyes and sighing as an even more intense wave of relaxation swept over me. "G'night."


	21. Chapter 20 A New Challenger

Chapter 20

**Cassie**

Jake, once again in the battle armor I'd made for him, looked to Amni'bel, who nodded. This was his third challenge today, and that nod meant that it was a preordained challenge that Amni'bel had approved. So far, Jake had done all right. He was getting tired, though, I could tell. Just because the swordplay matches were rigged didn't mean that Jake didn't have to make it look real, as could be told by the deep scarring of the leather chestplate he wore.

The new challenger stepped forward and clicked his wrist blades together, the Taruff version of a bow before a fight. They were a nasty-looking set of weapons – almost two feet long each, chrome trimmed in gold leaf, and dangerously raked forward. "I am honored you accepted my challenge," the being said, moving in with an aggression not suited to his gracious statement. Jake parried four quick jabs by waggling his blade back in forth in the simple guard that Toby'd taught him. He spun and dropped low, swinging his sword low in a sweeping blow that would have taken the Taruff's legs off just above the calves had he not jumped. The blue creature then made a mistake – at least to my eyes – and dropped his right arm back as if he were winding up for a pitch. He threw a short jab with his left, which Jake deftly swept aside, giving him a wide open shot at the Taruff's chest.

Jake swung the blade into the space between the humanoid's right shoulder and bicep. Orange blood spurted from the wound, but it wasn't as deep as it would have been had he not tamed the force of the blow. The Taruff stumbled back, and Jake stepped forward for the kill, or so it appeared to the spectators. "Enough!" Amni'bel cried. "The better _kertian_ has been revealed!" Jake swayed on his feet while the challenger was helped out of the makeshift, bowl arena. It was kind of like an open-roof football stadium, and hundreds of aliens had come to witness the human blade fighter.

"There will be no more challenges today," Amni'bel announced. "Prince Jake has proven his worth."

Another female Taruff stepped out of one of the many access tunnels. "Perhaps we should leave that assumption to me," she said, raising her voice for all to hear.

She was dressed simply but elegantly. A one-piece, tight-fitting robe made out of some kind of reptile hide covered her powerful-looking muscles, and she had long hair with many wooden beads woven throughout. When asked about the beads, Amni'bel simply explained that Taruff warriors wore one bead for every enemy they defeated in honorable combat. Amni'bel had well over two hundred. This new Taruff female had at least that many.

"Princess Jamei, how pleasant to see you again. I hope you are doing well," Amni'bel said cordially.

Jamei made a croaking sound. "Enough pleasantries. I have come to see for myself if this human is worth fighting for."

Amni'bel tilted her head. "Surely you understand, princess, that we are not fighting for him. We are fighting for ourselves."

"Of course. I represent the sovereign Gath'tos tribe!" she shouted so everyone could hear her. "I have come at the request of my people in search of the answer to one question – is this human worthy to lead our people?"

"You have my word. Stand down, Jamei," Amni'bel said coldly.

Jamei laughed, and much of the crowd joined in. "Are you afraid to fight me, human?" she said to Jake. Jake looked to Amni'bel, who gave an almost imperceptable shake of her head – this was not a fight she had set up.

"I'm not afraid," he told her, drawing his sword once more.

Amni'bel hissed. "Prince Jake, Cassie, please approach me." I stepped out from the crowd and followed Jake to Amni'bel's speaking podium. "This is not a good turn of events," she told us quietly. "Princess Jamei is one of the fiercest warriors on Xylen. I know you're skill and I know hers. You will be lucky to live if you accept her challenge."

"If I don't, they'll think I'm a coward. They won't fight with me," he said mournfully. "I've already gained the respect of your people. Now's not the time to lose it."

"Respect means nothing if you're dead, Jake," I told him. This was not something we'd thought about, much less planned for.

"Actually, respect means a lot, _even_ _if_ I'm dead. I'm not very important in the grand scheme of things. Their trust in us _is_." He grinned, but I could tell it was forced. "Besides, Toby isn't _that_ bad of a teacher."

"Is the human 'prince' so weak that he must receive encouragement from his betters?" Jamei was inciting the crowd. Her tone was blatantly mocking. "Should he not engage me for honor's sake alone?"

"I cannot allow this, Prince Jake. Without you, we will have no chance of defending Xylen. I know this. My people will obey me. They will fight. That is enough," Amni'bel pleaded with him. I agreed wholeheartedly.

"Maybe he has won his challenges so far though less-than-honorable means," Jamei taunted. "I know the _kertians _in Princess Amni'bel's tribe should be more than enough of a match against a stranger to our ways."

"Jamei!" Amni'bel roared, and I flinched. I was beginning to see why her people respected and obeyed her. "You will not insult me or my tribe any further! I said that the human prince has proven his worth. You will not step onto _my _soil and challenge my word or my honor. Perhaps you would be best to leave while you are still able," she not-so-subtley threatened.

Jamei canted her head, amused and not at all frightened. "Maybe you are right, Princess. Who is this other human?" she asked, pointing directly at me.

I didn't wait for Jake or Amni'bel to speak for me. "I'm Cassie," I said quietly. "I'm also here to help protect your people."

Jamei's orange eyes became slits. "You will also fight with us, then?" I nodded. Jamei again turned to address the crowd. "If she is going to fight with us, should we not know that she is skillful?" The crowd roared its' approval and my stomach turned to ice. "I challenge the human, Cassie, to a well-meant match of the blade," Jamei said triumphantly. She knew Amni'bel could not use honor to argue with her. I hadn't proven myself as Jake had. Jamei wanted blood for some reason or another, and it was starting to look like mine. Before I could reply, she took one menacing step towards me and drew a beautiful, if somewhat irregular looking blade from her side.

In an instant, Jake was between her and me with his sword ready for battle. "Back up," he told her coldly. "Back up or I'll kill you." There was not an ounce of joking in his voice. You could have heard a pindrop in the arena. No one spoke. No one even breathed.

Jamei through her head back and laughed, but this time no one joined her. "I see, 'Prince,'" she mocked. "You will not fight for yourself or for honor, but you will fight for love. You are a true fool. Unfortunately, I did not challenge you, though I would be pleased to slay you after I'm done with this one. I'll be more than happy to rid Xylen of both of you alien pretenders. The match, Amni'bel," Jamei said, every bit as cold as Jake's statement.

"The match must be accepted or declined by Cassie," Amni'bel declared.

"You can speak for anyone in your tribe, Amni'bel. Accept my challenge for her," Jamei insisted.

"I can and would speak for any member of my tribe, but these humans are not of my tribe. They have never imposed on me, and I will not impose on them," Amni'bel bit out. "Cassie, it is yours to decide," she said, raising her veil as a sign of distance from the situation. I knew she'd already pretty much let Jamei make a chump out of her. She was trying to save what little face she had left with the assembled crowd while still letting me choose.

The ice in my stomach had not gone away. I fought the desire to run, to hide behind Jake, or to morph and fly away. This situation had to be faced here and now. We needed all the Taruff tribes on Xylen to be unified against the Trunsk. If I declined the challenge, word would spread like wildfire that the humans were weaklings. Nations would refuse to fight. The Trunsk would waltz in and seize control of the divided planet with ease. Jake understood this – he'd been prepared to fight and die moments before. Could I do any less?

"I accept," I said, and was pleasantly surprised that there was no quaver in my voice. I heard Jake gasp as the crowd roared its' approval. Jamei's eyes flash uncertainly for a second – she hadn't anticipated this. She quickly recovered and raised her thin, razor sword in a battle stance. Jake tried to grab my arm as I stepped forward, but I looked at him and gave a firm head-shake that said, '_Don't, Jake. Let me go._'

I saw his eyes go wide and he nodded. He thought I had a plan. Tobias, who was circling overhead, hadn't moved any closer, even though I knew he could count the hairs on my head with his hawk vision. He thought I had a plan. Guess what? I didn't have a plan. I just knew that it was crunch time. Step up or go home. And we couldn't go home. This was not a fight we could afford to lose.

I walked towards the waiting alien princess and stopped ten paces short of her. I was about ready to faint, but I was thinking clearly underneath all of that. A voice in my head, infinitely more powerful than my fear, said soothingly, '_It's okay. You're doing what's required of you. Jamei won't kill you – you'll get maybe a scratch or two, but everyone will see that you're willing to fight for your beliefs. You'll be fine._'

Jamie stared at me for a very long moment. "You seem to have forgotten to arm yourself, human," she said in a joking manner. No one laughed. I didn't crack a smile. She faltered, but then gestured furiously towards me. "Pak! Give the human a weapon – she's forgotten how to speak her own language." A slight chuckle rose from the gathered, but there wasn't much amusement behind it. They'd never seen this before. They'd never seen someone ready to die without a fight. I felt a lot like Ghandi must have felt – someone just one step ahead of everyone else. Knowing the entire time their ignorance could be the death of me, but still having that feeling of humble superiority. A very decorative Taruff place a sword at my feet and retreated. I didn't pick it up.

"You insult me, human." Still, I didn't speak. Jamei looked confused for the first time since her arrival and looked to Amni'bel. "She tries to force me to kill her dishonorably after accepting my challenge. She knows I will not strike an unarmed opponent."

Amni'bel's head wobbled to the side in amusement. "Then it seems, Jamei, that she has won without striking a single blow."

Jamei's expression oscillated between confusion and outrage. I glanced to the side and saw Jake. He was nodding. _Good job. You're winning. Everything is going to be fine._

Jamei's expression settled on outrage and she leapt at me. It was too sudden for me to move even if I'd wanted to. I wasn't able to do anything but watch as the thin sword penetrated my chest, where my heart hammered against my ribs, and worked it's way out through my back. Jamei held the sword still for a second, allowing all to see what she'd done, and then slid it out effortlessly.

The pain was incredible. It didn't hit me until the sword was out, and I dropped to my knees at the alien's feet. I dimly heard her say past the sound of the roaring ocean in my ears, "It is done. I have rid us of someone who claims to be protecting us, but will not even protect herself." I looked up at her through blurry eyes, and an expression that might have been pity crossed her face. It was quickly smothered with contempt. "Get her out of my presence," she said coldly.

_Morph! Morph! _My brain screamed at me. _Morph to what? _Another voice said groggily. _Anything!_ I tried to think of an animal, but I couldn't concentrate. I vaguely felt the arms of someone dragging me away. I wanted so badly to picture an animal to turn into, but all I could see was black. Black…


	22. Chapter 21 Ill advised Revenge

A/N – Keep reading. I haven't read any reviews from the last chapter. I'm kinda scared to. Just keep reading, that's all I can say without ruining anything.

Chapter 21

**Tobias**

I watched through horrified eyes as Cassie was lugged off of the arena floor. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. The little details mocked me with their gruesomeness, as if someone was saying, '_That's right. It really happened. You really just stood by and let Cassie die._' The blood that clotted the dirt in trickles behind Cassie laughed at me. I saw in intricate detail as a drop of the same blood fell slowly from the tip of Jamei's sword to splash onto the ground. Cassie's blood. Not the blood of an animal she'd morphed. Her blood. Her life. (Ahhhhh!) I howled, a wild, inhuman sound. Taruffs looked around wildly for the source of the disembodied cry of pain. Of hatred.

The slow motion effect returned when I saw Jake. I saw his expression – it was the same one I'd have worn had I been a human. Of unchecked sorrow. The sheer agony and rage on his face was almost comical. He wound up and hurled his sword at the treacherous 'princess,' but it was plucked out the air short of its target by one of her bodyguards. He ripped off his armor and launched that at her too, but the wind caught it and dropped it to the dusty sand meters before it came close. Sweating and bare-chested, he looked around wildly for something else to throw, _anything _else, and when he didn't find it, he started yelling. Not even words. Inarticulate screams tore from him like he was some mythical beast howling for blood. As I watched him, I noticed that he was changing into the animal he sounded like. At first I thought I was hallucinating, and then it hit me ferociously – _He's morphing, idiot!_

A little voice in the back of my head said it was a bad idea. Killing Jamei wouldn't solve a thing, and would almost certainly ruin the very goal Cassie had sacrificed herself for. A way more influential voice told me to kill Jamei. _Fall on her eyes with your talons. Pop them open and laugh as she screams in pain. Hurt her so bad her ancestors feel it._ I did what it said.

I tucked my wings and allowed myself to start a controlled fall towards the murderous alien. The atmosphere was tricky on this planet – the air was thin and wispy with unpredictable wind gusts – but that served to my advantage. I plummeted at a speed I'd never be able to manage back on Earth. I closed with my target and was unable to stop myself from screaming. It was the pure outrage of a red-tailed hawk, and I knew it was a mistake. Alerting my target of my arrival was a good way to end up dead. Maybe that's what I wanted. I know Cassie sure didn't deserve it.

Jamei saw me a split second before I struck. All eyes were on me as she threw her arm up to protect her face and half-succeeded. I caught her left eye with a talon, but the other talon stuck in the thick reptilian flesh of her forearm. She flung me away forcefully, and I bounced in the dirt. I could feel my hollow bones breaking with every bounce, and finally came to rest in a crumpled heap. Pain was good. Pain was my friend. It reminded me that I was alive in a way that Cassie wasn't.

I hadn't killed Jamei. Hadn't even crippled her. But I'd given Jake the distraction he'd needed. In the tiger's body, far larger than Jamei herself, he didn't wait. He launched himself through the air and furiously clawed and bit as he took her to the ground. I saw her bodyguards, too stunned to react. Jake's tackle had taken them out of my field of vision, and I couldn't bring myself to move my head to look. '_Broken neck,_' I told myself. '_At least she died. That's all that matters._' I drifted off with that as my mantra. _All that matters...__all that matters… _

I was shocked awake when one word entered my consciousness – _Rachel. _I hastily, but groggily, opened my eyes. _You're about to put her through what you felt for over three years. _I found the strength from somewhere to morph. It was hard to focus on the creature I wanted to morph, but I felt myself growing stronger as my human body replaced my crippled hawk form. I focused on a picture of me with Rachel. I couldn't let myself die, no matter how bad I wanted to. Rachel.

I was fully human, physically fine, but mentally a total wreck. I couldn't move. I couldn't stop shaking. I couldn't even open my eyes. I knew that I would either live now or I would be killed. I'd done all I could to stay alive for Rachel. I simply couldn't do anymore. The darkness swam up and swallowed me whole.


	23. Chapter 22 Old Enemies, New Friends

Chapter 22

**Jake**

Jamei had cut me a few times during the short struggle, but now it was all over.

She was lying on the ground, bleeding to death from several claw and bite wounds I'd inflicted. I was demorphing as quickly as possible, but not because I was injured. I wanted to watch the murderer die with my own eyes. I wanted to see Cassie's killer take her last breath with Jake's eyes.

I was almost completely done demorphing, my breath coming shallow and ragged. It was the first time I wasn't sorry for killing someone. I'd done it lots of times before, but the decent part of me had always been revolted. Not anymore. That decent, honorable person was dead. That Jake was as dead as Cassie, and I didn't miss him at all. I didn't care. Nothing mattered.

I gazed upon her with the same lack of emotion she'd shown after she'd killed Cassie. One of her bodyguards stepped between myself and his fallen princess. "That's not necessary," I taunted him. "She's dead. I'd piss on her, but she's not worth the effort." I heard the closest Taruffs to me gasp in shock. They were all decent, honorable people. I wasn't. Not anymore. I didn't care if they thought of me as dishonorable. I didn't care.

Tobias didn't move from his prone position on the ground. He'd managed to demorph. He was alive. That was good. Not what I cared about at the moment, though. All I wanted was to see her die. So much blood, but she still drew breath. The bodyguard laughed. "You still don't get it, do you?" he said to me. Get what? Who cared? Nothing he could say would diminish my pleasure at watching the alien bitch die. I looked back to her and nearly had a heart attack.

Slowly but surely, Jamei was changing, and in a flash of insight it came to me. '_The Andalite! Jake, you idiot, you _moron, _how could you have not known?_' Sure enough, stalk eyes were growing out of her head. A tail was forming. I started to morph back to tiger, but I knew it wouldn't be fast enough. '_You let revenge cloud your judgement, and now you're going to die for it._' That was okay, though, because I'd die trying to avenge Cassie. Anyway, what was life worth without her?

Before even the tiniest traces of the tiger could begin to assert theirselves, I felt a numbing blow land on my neck. I fell to my knees. My brain was nothing but an explosion of pain. The Andalite finished demorphing, and I was absolutely appalled.

She was smaller than any Andalite I'd ever seen. Almost lithe. Her soft purple color was asthetically pleasing. Her tail blade was a dainty instrument compared to Ax's or even Visser Three's. It was like comparing a scalpal to a butcher knife. Physical structure was where the pleasantries stopped, though.

With Visser Three, who was now Visser One, there'd always been something in his body language that said 'bad news' to me. With this Andalite, there was no subtle, subconscious thing about it. She might as well have been carrying a light-up sign that said, 'I'm the most evil person to ever live.' The 'Taruff' who'd hit me in the neck calmly walked out to join the Andalite and the other obviously infested Taruff.

The Andalite cackled. (Crayak was right. You _are _worthless.) I struggled to retort, but I couldn't even move a finger. (My name is Teneel-Protolas-Hendreish. I came here with the intentions of merely ruining your credibility, but you forced my hand. At least you had the spine to fight me, even if you _did _send your defenseless girlfriend in your place.)

I still couldn't move, and Tobias, damn him, wasn't getting up.

"Jake the Mighty Yeerk Killer," one of the bodyguards taunted. "Don't you recognize me? I'm the one you sent to prison. You should have killed me when you had the chance, but you were too weak to end the life of your most personal enemy." Visser One, then. "I should kill you. You've been nothing but a headache to me. You've cost me very dearly." He took a few steps towards me as if to make good on his threat. I kind of wished he would.

(No,) Teneel stopped him. (He is as good as dead. By killing his little mate, I've crushed him emotionally. He's lost his will to live. Better to leave him here to suffer the consequences of his naïve decisions.)

Visser One looked at her in a manner I figured was envy. "Yes, you're right, of course."

Teneel ignored him. (Where is your other little friend? Aximili, the great warrior, the prince, nowhere to be found when his friends are in trouble. I've heard whispers that he's incompetant. This proves it. He is too scared to die for his 'prince.') Ah. That was something, then. Crayak's team didn't know Ax was on his way back with a star fleet.

"Where is the real Jamei, alien?" Amni'bel demanded. Oh. I'd forgotten about Amni'bel.

(Dead, of course. She was very brave. She didn't even cower with my tail blade to her throat. I couldn't let her doing what she intended – rounding up all of her warriors and fighters and uniting them with yours. It's too late for the Taruffs. You are all going to be very dead in a matter of days. Unfortunately, we have to go now. We have preparations to make.) Visser One and the other Yeerk followed her as she left the stadium.

Why weren't the Taruffs stopping them? Why were they allowed to leave? My limbs were starting to tingle, but I knew I'd not be able to move for a long time. Too long. Why was Tobias still just laying there?

Some of the pain-induced confusion faded and my thinking became more logical. Why _should _the Taruffs stop them? Had they stopped me when I attacked 'Jamei' without challenging her first? Had they done anything to Tobias after his sneak attack? The Taruffs were very ingrained in their belief of their honor system, but they knew that honor system didn't stretch beyond their race. They were content to let the aliens settle their differences between themselves. What they didn't realize was that, by all means, they _should _have been taking sides. They should have come to our aid when we needed it. They didn't realize by staying out of it, they'd dug themselves in a much deeper hole than they'd been in before.

Amni'bel understood. "People of my tribe! No! People of Xylen!" she raised her arms and shouted. The hooting and clicking of the assembled crowd abated. "Now do you see what we face? Our enemies do not deserve to be recipients of our honor! They deserve nothing but steel in their black hearts!" The mass of Taruffs howled its consent. "These _creatures _have the pure, poisonous gall to kill a princess of a sovereign tribe through trickery, and then come to _our _land and impersonate her!"

I shakily stood up. I heard Amni'bel's words, but I was not stirred by them. All I felt was hollow. No matter what, Cassie was gone. I looked around for her, but she'd been taken out of the arena. Amni'bel continued her lament.

"These 'Trunsk' have claimed to be peaceful, but any people who would ally themselves with such vile beings deserve nothing but death. If they want to come to Xylen, we will give them a very rude surprise. We will show the galaxy that we are nothing but the bravest of warriors! Delegates, step forward and declare your allegiance!"

Six Taruffs, all different sizes and shades of blue, stepped forward to stand before Amni'bel's speaking podium.

"The Quall Tribe is yours to command, Princess," one said, and kneeled before her lecturn.

"Ula Tribe has twenty thousand _kertian _and thirty-two fighter groups to offer," said another, kneeling beside the Quall delegate.

"The Matteo Tribe is yours."

"I am Prince Zo from the Fal'o Tribe. We are yours."

"Bacchos Tribe is not afraid."

"Rit'tar Tribe will show the Trunsk what it is to make enemies of our warriors."

All six delegates kneeled before Amni'bel. "Rise, my brothers and sisters. We are now a united world. Xylen will not fall!" she cried, and the crowd went nuts. It was a very touching moment – but not for me. I didn't care about their little war anymore. I didn't care about Crayak or the Ellimist. I cared about Cassie, and she was gone.


	24. Chapter 23 Trunsk Welcoming Party

Chapter 23

**Marco**

It had been a long, long trip. Rachel complained the whole time. Lok wanted to tell me stories and hear mine the entire voyage – apparently something his people did quite often. I'd woken up when Lok had informed me we were coming up on the moon of the fourth planet, which was the Trunsk home world. "Thank you," I'd simply said. I didn't know who I was talking to, but whoever it was that gave me the patience to make it without venting myself into space deserved my appreciation.

"I'm picking up a bunch of sensor blips from behind the moon," Rachel said. "They don't match anything in the targeting computer's memory, though."

"Probably just satellites," I said, although I wasn't so sure. It's not like humans had satellites orbiting _our _moon, and even if we had, we wouldn't concentrate them all on one side. "Keep an eye on it, though, and let me know if the situation changes."

"On it, chief," Rachel said brightly. She was just as glad as I was to be at our journey's end.

Past the moon, which looked a lot like the one orbiting Earth, I could see a good three-fourths of the Trunsks' nameless planet. It didn't look too inviting. Swirls of clouds covered most of it, like you see on the weather channel's hurricane tracker maps. Like Earth, it was mostly ocean, but instead of the water being blue, it was as black as ink. The continents looked more like islands. Even from this distance, the land looked sun-baked and smoldering. No wonder the Trunsk had evolved as cold-blooded reptilians.

"Lok, my life sensors are picking up the biggest concentration from that big island near the equator," I said as the computer beeped at me. I turned off the proximity alarm I'd set to go off if we accidentally got too close to a gravity well, such as a planet. "Can you plot me a course down through those storms?"

"Yes," he said, and got to work with his usual efficiency. I grinned – the big guy might not be much fun to joke around with, but he sure knew how to handle business.

"Hey sun-hair," I called to Rachel, because I knew she hated it. Well, hated it when _I_ called her that, anyway. She seemed to like Lok's nickname for her, but only when Lok said it. Girls – what can I say?

"_Mako four_ here," she snapped. "Try to be a little more professional, commander." I loved it when Rachel tried to get under my skin. It almost always meant I was succeeding in getting under hers. She was right, though – it wasn't really the time to play around.

"What do you have on those sensor contacts?" I asked.

"I dunno. The computer can't tell me what they are, but it's definitely something. I've got six distinct signatures, now."

The little alarm bells went off in the back of my brain. "That's got trouble written all over it, four. Keep a close eye on that and let me know if you pick up any change. The surface of that moon might just be playing tricks with your sensors, but I'd be willing to bet it's a welcoming committee."

"What're you, psychic?" Rachel asked, a little too anxious-sounding for my comfort. "They just cleared the horizon. Targeting computer suggests two-man fighters, six of 'em. Approaching us in a hostile formation."

"Take it easy, four," I said to her, trying to calm her nerves a little. Anxiety was something that got you killed. I located them, selected a communications frequency, and keyed the communicator. "This is Mako leader to approaching starfighter formation. Please respond with your intentions."

A whole bunch of snake-like hisses along with a few decidedly ugly-sounding grunts came from the fighters. Rachel was right about the approach pattern – they were tucked in tight, apparently to confuse our targeting computers into thinking it was one big, shifting ship. "Hey two, did you catch any of that?" I asked Lok.

"Yes. They laughed at you," he said simply. He'd drawn his own fighter up close to mine. "They said, 'turn around or die.' I don't think they will be laughing in a moment," he said viciously. His engines glowed and he started to jump out in front of me. Great. I had a pissed-off, emotional Taruff on one side of me. Rachel was on the other side, and for the first time _ever_, she picked now to get all jittery on me.

"Close the formation, Lok. We'll hit them all at once, just like in the sims. Arm your missiles," I told him, fervently hoping he'd listen to me. He didn't acknowledge that he'd heard, but his fighter dropped back beside mine. "You okay, four?" I asked Rachel.

"Don't worry about me," she said coolly, and I could picture the wide, psychotic grin on her face I'd seen a million times before. It prompted a smile of my own.

"Don't hurt 'em too bad, four," I told her to make sure she didn't get twitchy on the trigger. I kept our pace towards the enemy fighters leisurely and was pleased to see Rachel and Lok match my speed. Not to be stuck-up or anything, but I _was _the leader, and pretty damn good at what I did. My missile-launcher package turned the crosshairs I'd settled on the lead fighter from green to yellow, the sign of a maximum distance lock. This was where I was concerned about Rachel – the missiles theoretically could lock on from this distance, but if the fighter shook the lock before the missile hit, the projectile would just become ballistic, which the fighter could easily dodge. Rachel had shown a tendency to fire at this point instead of waiting for a solid lock, and I was again pleased to see she held her fire.

The enemy fighter I was focused on was very strange. I didn't know what I'd expected, but it sure wasn't this. My group's fighters, while distinct in their own ways, were superficially similar. They were definitely machines of war, all hard and angular. The Trunsk fighters were almost organic-looking. They reminded me of a stingray with the tail arched up over the body. Too, while our fighters were silver in mine and Rachel's case and red in Lok's, the Trunsk had opted to paint a black, grey, and yellow camoflage scheme to match their planet. They looked to me like a dangerous predator rather than a machine commanded by a sentient person. They were as much form as function.

I stopped admiring them when the crosshairs turned a bloody-red. "Makos, launch missiles," I said calmly as I hit the thumb button that would release the rocket from it's harness under one of my wings. Rachel and Lok reported their own launches.

It was more successful than I could have hoped. Three fighters exploded messily and the remaining three broke formation, still heading for us, but not quite as confident as they'd been a few seconds ago. I prepared to fire my shredders at the middle enemy fighter, but I held back as I saw it start to shudder. It began a lazy dive towards the surface of the moon, and began coming apart before it got there. I guessed it had been perforated by the shrapnel of one of his exploding squadmates and the drag of the moon's thin atmosphere did the rest. As it exploded, the other two peeled off, apparently wanting to regroup before engaging us.

I grimaced. That probably would have worked in atmosphere, where flying was difficult because of the problems associated with air resistance. As it was, they presented us with beautiful shots at their wide, fleeing bellies. Rachel cut in front of Lok and I hissed – if Lok's reflexes had been a little slower, he'd have blown her to bits. As it was, he dodged away to get a shot around her fighter. My shredders burned into one of them, turning it into an incandescent ball of gas. Lok grunted something and punched the acceleration to catch up with the escaping Trunsk, but I stopped him. "Let him go, two. He'll return with stories of how we made mincemeat out of their entire patrol, and the Trunsk will be more likely to treat us with some caution if not respect."

"Ta-tu," he said, the Taruff version of 'I copy.'

"Why did you jump in front of Lok?" I asked Rachel, not exactly mad. More curious than anything, I guess.

"I didn't mean to. One of my thrusters went out, and the ones on my right were firing at full power. Pushed me right in front of him."

I rolled my craft to look at Rachel left side. Sure enough, some debris had knocked one of her jet thrusters totally out of line with the others. "You have it all compensated?" I asked.

"Yeah, the computer took care of most of it. It was squawking at me not to maneuver, because I'd have torn the few connections I'd had left."

"Well, tell Lok thank you sometime for not incinerating you," I told her. "You got our heading to that island?" I asked Lok. He answered in the affirmative and sent me some coordinates. I began taking us down. "Stay loose – if they've got anti-fighter guns, this is where they'll use 'em. Stay on course, but be jumping around if we start taking fire. Keep your jukes unpredictable – if you move in a pattern, they'll be able to guess where you'll be next." The front of the fighter started glowing as we hit the atmosphere, and sure enough, red rays of light started streaking towards us. Terribly inaccurate for now, but I knew that would change once they figured out our speed and vector. I barrel-rolled to dodge a close laser blast and said, "Hold on to your butts – we're going in hot." We streaked in at the hellish planet at full speed.

I never even saw the blast that hit me. About a minute into the descent, my computer went nuts and the fighter started shaking as if it were in the grip of some giant throwing a tantrum. My canopy starred with cracks, and my vision started to gray out as my inertial compensators failed me. I didn't know if my communications were still working, but I tried anyway. "Two, four, can anyone see me? How bad am I hit?" I yelled, aware that it was a stupid question. The answer was easy – bad enough. I had no control over the fighter, I had no sense of direction, I was blacking out, and to top it off, the spin made me want to puke.

"…can't see…bad…punch out! …Out, Marco!" Rachel's voice came through my helmet, but was chopped to bits by static.

"Ejecting!" I yelled. Once I was free of the doomed fighter, I might have enough time to morph to a bird. Maybe. I slapped the flashing eject button and waited for the unfamiliar explosion of the canopy flying off and the command chair jetting free. I missed. Slapped it again. Nothing happened. "Ejector circuits fried!" I cried, panicked. I tried to reach my arms up to push the canopy open, but enertia kept my arms pinned down.

"…too close! …out now, or…get out!" I heard Rachel yell, sounding more than a little scared through the static. I tried desperately to think of something, _anything_ I could use to get out of this jam, but came up with nothing as the collision alarms started blaring.


	25. Chapter 24 Cassie's Goodbye

A/N – Hey, what's up? The reviews are a little nicer than I expected, but some of you are still wondering _why _I'm doing this. Well, let me go into Marco-mode: hahaha! You're reading through slitted fingers! Some of you are leaving disappointed reviews…but you're still reading, nonetheless! I am a literary genius! LOL..anyway…I promised you'd have an overall satisfaction when this is through, and I meant it. Things can't get better before they get worse, right? Keep reading, and enjoy!

Chapter 24

**Tobias**

When I came to, Jake and I were on large beds in a high-tech room. Tall, thin Taruffs bustled around us, taking all sorts of technical data from the electrodes stuck to our foreheads. I sat up, wincing from the stiffness in my spine, and tore the wires off of my head. That started a couple of the Taruffs hooting and grunting at me, but Amni'bel waved them to leave me alone, which they reluctantly did.

"What happened?" I asked Amni'bel, since Jake seemed to be asleep. A flash of terror hit me – how long had I been in morph? I immediately focused on demorphing and started to shrink, much to my relief. I waited until I was fully Red-tailed hawk again to speak. (What happened?) I asked again.

"Jamei is dead," Amni'bel said mournfully. "The real Jamei. The imposter, Teneel, still lives. We have our most skilled hunters on her trail. She will die before the sun has set on this day," Amni'bel promised, and I almost laughed. She actually believed herself. I didn't bother telling her that Teneel could be _anything, _not just anywhere.

(How's Jake?) I asked, suddenly concerned. I knew how it was to lose someone you loved. I loved Cassie, but not in the way that Jake did. I ached for her, but at the same time I felt ashamed. I didn't feel a fraction as bad about losing Cassie as I had about losing Rachel. I hated to admit that, but I'd stopped lying to myself a long time ago.

"The medics say physically, he's in perfect condition. Extremely healthy. Mentally, though – well, he's gone somewhere else. He won't eat or drink and will barely respond to questions," Amni'bel said sadly. "The shamen and medics don't know how to repair mental damage to a human."

I didn't answer, just began to morph to human once again. I was tired, but that was going to have to wait. Cassie was gone – nothing was going to change that. We couldn't afford to have Jake act like this. Not now.

Fully human again, I walked over to where he gazed into empty space with glassy eyes. "Jake, it's Tobias. Anybody home?" He nodded ever so slightly, but didn't respond. "What are you doing?" I asked him. No response.

I was mad. I was emotional. I did something that I'm not particularly proud of – I hit him. Not a full-out punch, but somewhere in between that and a slap. He grabbed his face in surprise and sat up quickly, his expression a mask of outrage and sorrow. "You _bastard_, what the -" he started.

"Good, you're back," I cut him off coldly. "Shut up and listen to me. Cassie is gone, Jake. You're alive. I'm alive. As far as we know, all the others are alive. You have a duty to them, a responsibility to _keep _them alive. Locking up and punking out isn't the way to win this thing. So stop being an idiot, or I'll hit you again. What do you think Cassie would want you to do?"

He'd started to respond to the first part of my statement, and closed his mouth as he considered the last part. "I don't know what she'd want," he said. "I don't know."

Amni'bel, who I'd forgotten was watching the whole thing, said, "Why don't you ask her?"

I turned to her in open surprise. I didn't say anything, though – I didn't know if she was baiting us for a cruel joke or what. Jake spoke slowly. "What do you mean, ask her? Is she alive?"

Amni'bel shook her head. "I am sorry – I forget that you are not familiar with our ways. No, Prince Jake. Cassie is gone, but her spirit remains. We have captured her brain waves and thought processes in a Kalim Jewel. Through a process called _Abu-jar,_ our shamen can summon her spirit to talk to you for a brief time. It will be an emotional event for you, I am certain. Some family members of fallen warriors choose not to invoke the _Abu-jar_. They feel it is better to let the soul rest and keep the memory of their loved one sacred."

Jake seemed at a loss for words, so I picked up his slack. "How long will she be able to talk with us? Will it really be Cassie, or just a representation?" The only thing worse I could think of for Jake to never see Cassie again would be for him to speak to a cruel apparition, an imitation of the girl he loved.

"It will be as if she never left. She will have all of her memories, even up until her own death. She will understand what is happening. As for how long she will remain, no one can say. It depends on how strongly her spirit _wants _to stay."

"I want to do it," Jake said. "I have to know if she hates me," he choked a little. "I have to know what she wants me to do to make things right."

I put my hand on Jake's shoulder, and I knew that all the time I'd spent hating him was just stupid. He was my friend – even before we knew anything about the Yeerks, he was my friend when I needed one. I was just some dork who got beat up a lot. All he would have had to do was keep on walking, and I'd have never known who he was. He stood up for me when I wouldn't even stand up for myself. My friend Jake always did what he thought was right, and in some ways, a lot of ways, I knew that made him better than me. Whatever the cost, he did what he thought was right, and I knew deep down that was the only reason we weren't dead and Earth wasn't a Yeerk haven. None of us could afford to have him falter now.

Amni'bel nodded respectfully. "This way, please." She led us out of the sick bay and down a dark, creepy hallway. The other hallways in the palace were grand spectacles of beauty decorated with precious gems and minerals. This particular walkway didn't even belong in the same building. The masonry and stonework was sloppy. It was dank, and foul water dripped from unseen leaks. Poorly lit, one had to stare at their feet so they wouldn't trip on a protruding cobblestone. I resisted the urge to demorph. Cassie would want to see me as a human, if she was going to be able to see at all.

We entered a doorless room that glowed with a blood-red light. Several fist-sized crystals were the source of the light and glowed as if they were bioluminescent. The smallest Taruff I'd seen so far approached us skittishly, which made him even odder to me – I'd have not thought that any Taruff had a skittish bone in their body. He wore a simple, sleeveless robe, but his arms were entwined with intricate metals and gems, a fascinating display of a mix between simple luxury and technology. "Princess, who would you like to see today?" he asked humbly.

"We have come for the human, Cassie," she replied. "Activate her crystal and give us privacy."

The Taruff shaman bowed and scurried to find the crystal Amni'bel had requested. Jake swallowed hard, and I tightened my grip on his shoulder. I wanted to reassure him that I was there for him. The shaman returned with a glowing crystal, but instead of red, its glow was more purplish. Who'd have known different species souls weren't the same color? The shaman looked right at Jake. "This may be hard. You will speak to her bare essence. Her emotions and thoughts will be very clear. The souls released here are not capable of deceit." Jake nodded his understanding.

He set the jewel on an ornate, golden pillar that held it upright. He activated the computer interfaces on his arms, and the jewels set into the metal began to glow themselves. The crystal seemed to glow brighter as the gems on his arms dimmed, as if it was absorbing the smaller jewels' energy. He chanted, and all the while Cassie's crystal glowed brighter and brighter. I was about to cover my eyes to protect them from the searing light when everything seemed to dim. There was a tunnel effect, not so different from zero-space, that connected me to the crystal. I could dimly see a similar tunnel between the jewel and Jake. The shaman backed away silently, and Jake said tentatively, "Cassie?"

(Jake? Where am I?) Cassie's voice echoed through the tunnel.

"It's me, Cassie. Amni'bel said…she said you'd already know. That you're…" Jake hesitated.

(I'm dead?) Cassie asked. She didn't sound overly surprised or upset. (Oh. Well, I suppose everything will work out, then. Jamei has her proof we're willing to die for them.)

"It wasn't the real Jamei," Jake told her. "It was Teneel, an Andalite on Crayak's team."

Cassie seemed to sigh. (Oh, Jake. I know you'll want to kill her to avenge me,) she said, sounding disappointed.

Jake shot me a questioning look. "Shouldn't I?" he asked.

(Of course not. If you have to kill her, let it be out of necessity. Killing in anger would make you no better than a member of Crayak's team.)

Jake looked more shocked than when I'd socked him earlier. "I guess you're right." He looked down at his feet. "Cassie, how am I supposed to go on without you?" he asked, his tone so sad I almost started crying. I'd never seen him like this. Never.

(It probably won't be easy,) Cassie said. The shaman had been right – there was no wheels-within-wheels logic to what Cassie was saying. She was being direct, blunt even. Not like the Cassie I knew…but probably what Cassie would have sounded like without concern and love altering things between what she felt and what she actually said. (You said it yourself, though. Even if every one of us die, if Crayak loses, it would still be worth it.)

"What should I do?" he asked miserably. "What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

(Win,) she said flatly. (If you don't, every sentient being in the universe is going to feel like you do right now, if not worse. Win at all costs. You don't have any other choice. I'm going to go now.)

"Cassie – no, not yet," Jake pleaded. "I need you."

(Keep me in your heart. There, I'll always be with you. Don't forget what I said,) she reminded him, her voice along with the perceived tunnels fading fast. (Win, Jake. You're good at that. You have to do it one more time. Win.)

She was gone. The crystal was as dull as the bricks that made up the walls around us. The shaman walked from behind a booth that looked weirdly like something you'd see at a carnival, and he was weilding a small blowtorch-looking instrument. He measured carefully, pressed it to the crystal that had contained Cassie, and pressed a button.

A small whine filled the air, and the crystal shattered. Pieces flew across the room and smashed against the walls. A single shard, the size of the smallest joint of your little finger, remained on the pedestal. The shaman spoke as he wound a tiny cage around it with copper wire. "This is the core of the crystal, called an _Abu-ommni_. In your language, it might mean 'emotional bloodstain,' but the true meaning is lost in translation. It was formed when Cassie's soul left our world. This is all that remains. It is far smaller than usual," he said with detatched interest as he worked.

Jake seemed to be lost in though. Not the way he'd been in sick bay, but more contemplative than anything. "What does that mean?" I asked him.

He tilted his head in the Taruff version of a smile. He threaded a thin cord through the top of the wire and held it up. In seconds, he'd created a beautiful piece of jewelry to embody Cassie's remains. "The size indicates her willingness to leave this mortal coil. She was truly at peace. She is comforted by the knowledge that Prince Jake _will _win the coming war. Her hope gives _me _hope." Without asking, he walked to Jake and placed the pendant around his neck.

Jake looked down where the crystal shard hung against his heart. He had tears in his eyes, but he actually smiled at me and Amni'bel. "Assemble as many Taruffs as you can. I want to address them myself as quickly as possible."

The Princess did her own Taruff smile. "Of course, Prince Jake. Imu will guide you to where you will be able to give your speech." The shaman, who was also apparently Imu, bowed and led the way out of the broken-down part of the palace. We wandered in a seemingly random fashion through the palace, but Imu seemed to know exactly where he was going. After perhaps fifteen minutes, we were led into a small antechamber. Jake armor, fully repaired and gleaming, hung on a rack along with his sword. I thought he'd balk at putting it on, but he walked straight to it and rested his hand on one of the shoulder plates. It hit me after a moment – Cassie'd made it for him. Her last gift to him.

I demorphed, but did so as quietly as possible and kept my eyes on Jake throughout the process. He removed the ratty, hastily made shirt the Taruffs in the medical bay had provided him. He tugged the armor on and secured the sword across his back. By this point, I was fully hawk. He turned to me and grinned. It was all teeth. His face was dirty. He was overdue for a haircut, and a couple stray locks of blond obscured some of his face. "How do I look?" he asked me.

(Like a hero,) I told him. I felt dorky, and a piece of my very human pride told me to shut up. I couldn't. I wanted him to see himself through my eyes. To me, he looked like the very essence of a warrior, of a hero, of a legend. Handsome and brave, he was the embodiment of all the stories I'd read about heroes in mythology and real history. (Like a real, live hero.)

"Good," he said. A couple of years ago, he'd have blushed and gotten an 'aw-shucks' look on his face at that kind of praise. Now, he just took it in stride. He knew he was going to have to live up to a lot. He knew he was going to have to be a hero. I silently applauded Cassie's inspiration. She'd turned him into the warrior he truly was. "The Taruffs are going to need a hero." He walked to the double doors set in the far wall, the only portal in or out of the chamber excluding the one we'd entered through. Sunlight flooded in the room when he swung them open, and Jake walked calmly out onto a huge stone balcony. I fluttered out beside him and perched on the rail.

I'd thought, at most, Amni'bel would be able to round up everyone in her village. It was a large village, perhaps fifty thousand Taruffs. Half of them were warriors. I'd expected most of them to show up, but she'd only had fifteen minutes to prepare.

I was taken aback at what I saw. Apparently, we were on the balcony that protruded front and center from the palace. As far as my keen hawk eyes could see, there was nothing but Taruff warriors. Guns, ceremonial swords and blades, and fighters sparkled in the midst of everyone – at least a million Taruffs were gathered around the palace.

Jake was unfazed. There was a voice amplifyer that looked a lot like a big microphone attatched to the rail. "Warriors of Xylen!" Jake yelled into it, raising his fist in an imitation of the Hork-Bajir's battle gesture. As far as I could see, every warrior mirrored the motion and roared. Jake waited for the unbelievable noise to abate before he spoke again. "I am an alien to you, and I am not your prince. I do not command you. I do not expect you to obey any orders from me. I ask only for your permission to fight along side of you! My only wish is to die beside you in honorable combat! Will you take advantage of our knowledge of the enemy and allow me the honor of joining you in this war?"

If the Taruffs had loved him before, there was no question about how they felt about him now. They'd respected him before this moment. Now, with only a few sentences, every Taruff present would be willing to die for Jake without a second thought. Their full-throated battle cries made that abundantly clear, and they started chanting. Jake shushed the crowd with a sharp gesture. "I will consult with your leaders in the war room shortly. We will tell them everything we know that might help you be victorious. They will then relay that information to all of you. Soon, the galaxy will have the pleasure that I've enjoyed recently – being introduced to the fiercest warriors to ever live!"

There was no silencing them now, and the sound of the roars almost physically pushed me off of the balcony railing. (They're yours, Jake. They're all yours. I would _not _like to be a Trunsk on my way to Xylen right now.)

He gave me a ferocious smile. "Bring 'em on," he said through gritted teeth. "They're gonna be sorry they ever heard of me." I'd never seen Jake like this. He was confident as usual, but instead of calmly projecting that confidence, he radiated it. He almost glowed. He was totally in his element. "Crayak's going down."


	26. Chapter 25 The Long Fall

A/N – I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. To date, it was the hardest one for me to write, but it was probably the one I was most satisfied with when it was finished. It's only going to get harder for me to write, but I'm going to try my best to put them out as regularly as I have been. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who's been loyal to the story so far. I plan on exceeding your every expectation. I really want more than anything for you to look back when this is over and realize that you've enjoyed reading this as much as you always enjoyed the real books. Anyway, on that note, enjoy the rest of the story!

Chapter 25

**Rachel**

The planetary laser fire had stopped, and I saw why shortly after. My scopes showed twelve fighters approaching us from the east, but I shook my head, trying to prioritize. I had more important things to worry about than fighters that weren't here yet.

About five miles above the planet's surface, Marco spun out of control towards the ground. It was a slow descent – his anti-gravity projecters, at least a few of them, were obviously still intact. Slow as his descent was, it was not under any semblance of control. The section of the fighter where the engines used to be burned brightly. The tip of his left wing was totally gone. There were burn marks all along the body of the craft, and as I watched, small pieces were hurled off of the main part of the wreckage.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before his few remaining anti-gravity projectors failed and he started to drop like the misshapen hunk of metal his ship had come to represent. To top it all off, he obviously couldn't hear me trying to communicate with him. I saw that the fighters were closing fast. "Marco! You're getting too close to the planet! You've got to eject now!" I didn't know if he was ignoring me or couldn't hear me. It would be _so _Marco to be egotistical enough to think he could save the wrecked fighter.

Static didn't do the number on his next communique that it had on the previous few. I actually caught most of what he was saying. "I can't reach the manual release! I can't…arms up to it! …getting sick as hell!"

I slapped my forehead, my hand bouncing off the helmet I'd forgotten was there. "Marco, you idiot, puking isn't going to make you look near as dumb as dying will! Get out of that fighter! It's gone!" As I spoke, something flared on the underside of the dying ship and his drop doubled in speed. I keyed the communicator and got solid static.

"Enemies three kilometers and closing," Lok said tensely. He'd been holding formation with me beside Marco, but I could tell he clearly thought engaging the enemy flight would give Marco more of a chance at survival than being a target beside him. I grimaced. He was probably right. "Orders, Rachel?" he asked, still tense.

Orders? I didn't give orders. I took them. I went above and beyond them, usually. I didn't give them. "Um, let's engage," I said hesitantly. I realized it was up to me to take control, and I relaxed about a hair. "Yeah. One head-to-head pass, fall on them from behind. We'll blow through them on our way back to Marco," I stated more confidently than I felt.

"Ta-tu," Lok bit out. "I'm your wing," he said, and I broke away towards the enemy fighters. He followed my turn precisely, and I smiled. "Death to your enemies, my sun-hair," he wished me luck, and I almost broke out laughing. Here, facing incredible odds against more experienced pilots that outnumbered us six-to-one, this massive alien was calling me the equivalent of 'sweetie' while wishing death upon others in the same sentence. Too bad Marco couldn't appreciate the irony.

The crosshairs on my heads-up display went red, and I released a missile. I quickly got a lock on the fighter next to the first one and let another rocket fly. I suffered the laser barrage and fired my own shredders as we were passing, and I was pretty sure I'd gotten a deflection shot on one of the enemies. Then we were through their formation, and Lok and I were turning our more maneuverable fighters to get on their tails.

"Okura!" Lok yelled in Taruffian. I didn't know what it meant, but he sounded ecstatic. "Three kills for me, three for you, sun-hair."

"On a head-to-head?" I said, disbelieving. In simulators, I hardly ever took _one _fighter on the first pass, and usually picked up some damage to my own ship. The wireframe schematic of my fighter glowed solid green, a sign that I'd received no damage. I quickly counted the red dots on my sensor board, and saw they'd gone from a dozen to six. "Hell yeah! Let's toast these last six and get Marco out of trouble."

We gained on the remaining fighters swiftly. Apparently, they'd figured out they were no match for us and settled on finishing off Marco. Lok and I fired our shredders at the same time, and two more Trunsk exploded. The remaining four stingrays (my nickname for the Trunsk fighters) came into range of Marco's crippled fighter and opened up with their guns.

Fortunately for Marco, their accuracy was terrible. They seemed to be so worried about dodging me and Lok's shredder blasts that they didn't take two seconds to line up a decent shot. As I watched, another stingray fell prey to Lok's shredders. I missed my target, but stayed on his tail.

A stingray got lucky and hit Marco's fighter. It wasn't a terribly accurate shot – it took off the rest of the left wing and sent the ship into a faster spin. (Hey! Can't you keep them off of me for a minute? Damn!) Marco yelled.

"Marco?" I asked in disbelief. "You're morphing?" I figured he was morphing a bird, though I didn't see how that would help him if he couldn't get his canopy off.

(I can't hear. All I'm getting on the communicator is static. I'm morphing the seagull. Shut up, it was all I could think of,) he said in response to my unspoken jibe. (In about a minute, I'm going to need one of you to shoot this canopy off of the fighter,) he said grimly.

As he spoke, the three remaining fighters turned and vectored in on Lok. Apparently, they were tired of being targets and wanted to fight back. "You'll have to take the shot, Rachel," Lok said gravely. "I'll occupy these pretenders."

Me? Shoot at Marco on purpose? I gritted my teeth and got closer to the doomed fighter. Even though I knew Marco couldn't hear me, I said, "If this works, you own me _big time_." I was sickened by the feeling of what I was about to have to do. I dropped the crosshairs on the canopy and almost fired, but immediately loosened on the trigger. '_Think, Rachel._' I told myself. '_Drop the power on your shredders so if they _do _penetrate the cockpit, they're less likely to maim Marco. Get a better angle – decapitate the cockpit, don't shoot _into _it._' I listened to my own advice and powered the shredders down to thirty percent. Not enough to melt metal instantly, but probably more than enough to break some glass. I got the angle I wanted, knew everything was as good as it was going to get, but still hesitated.

Collision alarms started squawking at me, breaking my concentration. My dive to follow Marco's fighter had brought me a lot closer to the planet than I'd ever intended. (What're you waiting for? Rachel, are you there? Do it!) Marco raged, and I swung my hand as if to swat away his voice. I focused and fired.

The shredder beams, dim in comparison to what they'd been earlier, stabbed out in a line connecting my fighter to Marco's. The glass, which was apparently already broken, came apart with an explosiveness that surprised me. As I pulled up, I saw a white bird shoot out of the cockpit, tiny in comparison to the rest of the ship. (Yee-haw!) Marco yelled. I felt my head swoon as the gravity of the planet tugged at the fighter I was trying to slingshot back into the air. My breathing came roughly and I thought I was going to pass out. Then, I was free of the inertial forces trying to kill me. My sensors told me I'd cleared the planet by about ninety feet. '_I was a millisecond away from being toe jam,_' I thought to myself.

I thought that privately. Over the communicator, I said, "No problem! I'll be performing every hour, on the hour. Ace fighter pilots a specialty!" I was ecstatic. I checked my scopes and saw that Lok had cleared out the remaining fighters, although he'd picked up some minor battle damage.

(I'm gonna go hide out over in that gulley for a while,) Marco said casually, as if he hadn't almost just died. (By the way, sweet shooting, Rachel. I'm glad I taught you well.) That remark, which would have irritated me under normal circumstances, just prompted me to smile.

"No problem, you big jerk," I said, as if he could hear me. I heard Lok grunting in laughter.

"I am proud of you, my sun-hair," he told me lovingly.

(On the way down, I managed to make myself useful,) Marco continued. (I spotted a shipyard with a couple of those big battle cruisers docked west of us. I think they'd make pretty nice firewood, unless you guys want to let them get into space. If you decide to torch 'em, don't forget to pick me up on your way out of here. I don't think they're gonna be too happy with me after what we did to their fighter squadrons.)

"Copy that. Lok, let's go light up their cruisers and pick the idiot up. Maybe we can get back to Xylen in time to watch Ax blow the Trunsk fleet to itty bitty pieces," I said, vectoring for the location Marco'd spoken of.

"Yes. I would enjoy that very much," he said, matching my fighter's speed and maneuver. He waggled his wings, a little show of respect to me, and I copied it. The pair of us flew through the baked wasteland in search of some defenseless, half-built battle cruisers to pound on.


	27. Chapter 26 The Mazerroo

Chapter 26

**Tobias**

The upcoming battle had fully preoccupied Jake. With him was Toby, who'd reentered Taruff space a couple of days earlier. Her message made the preparations redouble in their haste. Engineers raced to get Taruff fighters spaceworthy. _Kertians _sharpened their blades and kept themselves limber. Toby was instructing thousands of _kertians _per day in war strategy.

The _kertians_, while competent with their blades, were not suited to the kind of full-scale war that was upcoming. They were used to their honorable, one-on-one challenges. Toby tried to break them of the habit, teaching them close quarter combat skills. Toby, who was a _seer _of her people, was akin to a master chess player. She didn't think in the present – she tried to impress upon the Taruffs the need to think nine or ten moves in advance. Analyze placements of enemies and their predicted positions on a timeline, plan your moves quickly, and execute them, she preached. Most of the Taruffs seemed to be eager and hopeful students.

Jake was busy talking strategy with the many commanders, generals, and princes of the brand-new Xylen Armed Forces. His experience with the Yeerks served him well, and he soon gained a reputation among the Taruff nobility as a 'vicious warrior, capable of eliminating the enemy on many levels.' After seeing Cassie one last time, his single goal seemed to be the destruction of the Trunsk forces, which the Taruffs found to be a commendable quality.

With Jake and Toby tied up here, Ax on his mission to recruit outside help, and Rachel, Marco, and Lok on the Trunsk home world, I really had no one left to talk to and nothing to do. I wasn't the military mastermind that Jake was, and I certainly wasn't the combat genius that Toby was turning out to be. I was befriended by Lok's sister Hali, who happened to be a kindred spirit in that we both fervently wished the members of Marco's expedition to return safely.

Hali was not a warrior. Lok, who was an established _kertian _and fighter pilot, would not allow her to put herself at risk. Instead, he excelled and brought their family enough honor for the both of them. Hali became not exactly a pacifist, but a scholar. She asked questions that no one else thought to ask, and was very intelligent in her own way. She taught me much of the Taruff planet and culture that the warriors I'd been exposed to hadn't considered important.

For example, I'd assumed that Xylen was a sort of twilight/desert planet, which Hali cured me of quickly. "Where do you live on Earth?" she'd asked.

(I live in a meadow in the forest,) I'd informed her.

She'd tilted her head to the side and said, "Ah, so Earth must be a forest planet, no?" She wasn't mean about it, but the comment made me feel dumb enough to consider my words before I said whatever came to mind. The Taruffs were neither savages nor stupid – assumptions were just impending mistakes that could be avoided.

"You're correct in assuming that we Taruffs mainly live in the night-sand regions," she said of the dark purple and black deserts that stretched as far as the eye could see. "The loose sand is how our legs evolved to be able to give powerful kicks and leaps. Luckily, we evolved into the most powerful predators in the night-sand."

I thought that over. (But you're not the most dangerous beings on the planet?)

She grunted. "By the skies, no. That title belongs to the _Mazerroo_. They live in the swamp regions south of here, and they're the sole reason my people cannot live there."

(What makes them so dangerous?) I asked.

"They are almost fifty feet tall," she said simply. "They have a hide like steel, and none of our weapons penetrate it. They walk like us, but their arms are for nothing other than killing." She hooked her fingers like a large claw to demonstrate. "Natural blades tip their arms. They can spit large amounts of a debilitating poison, and their powerful tails are like bladed whips. Their only saving grace is that they are very, very rare."

(Sounds deadly,) I said. Hali made a comment about avoiding them at all costs and went back to making the intricate, metal jewelry that the Taruffs were so fond of. As she worked, a plan hatched in my mind about how I could be useful. As a hawk, I was pretty much useless to the upcoming battle. In Hork-Bajir morph, I would be no more deadly than one of the millions of Taruffs already committed to combat. As a _Mazerroo_, however…

That was how Hali and I ended up in the Maneri Swamp searching for a Mazerroo. That Hali was even with me spoke highly of her bravery – she had an almost supernatural fear of the creatures even though she'd never seen one. I wondered if the stories were exaggerated, and that soon shifted to wondering if the Mazerroos even _existed._ Hali acted as bait, floating through the swamp in an anti-gravity recreational vehicle painted, hopefully, in a color scheme the Mazerroo would not see as edible. She amplified her voice and gave the hooting call of a lost Taruff.

(I think I see one,) I called down to Hali. In the greenish water, I could see something about the size and shape of a large alligator heading towards the noise Hali was making. She instantly jetted away in her air car until I could no longer reach her through thought speak.

The Mazerroo _was _big, though not near as big as Hali had described. Certainly it didn't have the features she'd suggested. It looked like a big alligator without a tail. It's eyes, once I spotted them through the murk, were huge. I wondered how it was swimming with no legs or visible tail when it raised its head out of the swamp.

That's right, its _head_. The large creature I'd thought so similar to a big gator was only its head. As I watched, stunned, it reared to its full height and I instantly flapped for altitude. It was tall enough nip me out of the air at the level I'd been at. It stood like a bipedal dragon, slime and water rushing off of its armored body. As it looked around for the Taruff it had heard, it snapped its long, thin tail behind it in frustration. The razor-sharp tail sliced through a very big tree and toppled it. The Mazerroo didn't even notice as it raised its head to the air and barked like a massive dinosaur.

(Oh, man,) I cried and I started in a dive, aiming for the creature's spiny back. I didn't think my talons would stick into its flesh, but if I aimed right I could perch on one of the smaller spikes protruding from its shoulder blades. It never even saw me approach – I was like a mosquito flying at a human. I flared and perched on the spike, praying that it wouldn't notice me and cut me in half with his tail. It didn't.

I focused on acquiring him, and he closed his eyes and rumbled softly, a small earthquake beneath my talons. After I was finished, I took off again, flapping furiously for distance. I needn't have tired myself out – he never even knew I'd been there. With one last sniff and a disappointed bark, in sank back down into the murk to wait for its next victim. I flew out of the swamp until the soil started changing from mud to sand, and spotted Hali quickly. (Hey!) I cried. (It's safe, I'm done.) I dropped into the back seat of the air car so I wouldn't have to tire myself out flying all the way back.

Hali wasn't in a great mood. "I cannot believe I didn't stay to see the creature," she grumbled. "I'd have been the only Taruff in the tribe to see a Mazerroo besides the Princess."

(I'm glad you weren't there. He was really looking forward to a Taruff Lunchable,) I said, not bothering to explain the joke to her. (Besides, you'll see one soon enough.)

Her eyes glowed with understanding. "You're able to become a Mazerroo," she said excitedly. "You will be more effective than a hundred _kertian_."

(Slow down,) I told her. (I might as well try it now, outside the village. The Mazerroo's mind will be with mine, so be ready to take off. I'm not sure if I'll be able to control it right away on the first time.) Hali nodded her understanding even though she clearly didn't understand. I flapped about fifty yards away from her and said, (Here I go.)

I focused on the details of the dragon I'd been perched on not even an hour earlier and instantly began to grow. I grew and grew, far bigger than any morph I'd ever done before. But that wasn't the most interesting change. Some Earth animals have thick skin, but none, not even the rhino, had the armor plating that was developing all over my body. It was something like bone, only many times thicker and harder. Shredders on full power would have to be sustained for quite a while in a single location to penetrate. It was overlapped and jointed so I had a full range of movement. As my head grew fifty times the size of my hawk body, I felt the pillow-sized poison glands fill my cheeks. The butcher knives that filled my mouth were able to be flattened against my jaws, allowing accurate spitting of the vemon.

The tail that sprouted behind me was probably my favorite part. It was just as moveable as my arms or legs, but unencumbered by unnecessary bones. It was pure muscle with thin armor plating almost like scales, and the natural razor sharpness of it pleased me. It would be fun to swing that tail, bisecting those dumb blue creatures that sometimes encroached in my swamp into bite-sized pieces…

(Nope!) I told myself, quickly asserting my mind over the Mazerroo's. It wasn't the cold, calculating, powerful mind I was used to in a predator. It was so supremely dangerous that it didn't _have _to be. It knew it would eat. Hunting was a game it played to pass the time. Picking the combinations of it's natural weapons to hunt with was its lot in life. It knew, if food got scarce enough, that it could always travel to the desert and snack on the Taruffs. I shuddered in fear for the Taruffs that the Mazerroo should _ever_ run low on prey in the swamps.

(I've got control,) I told Hali, looking for her in the desert. She hadn't run, but the painted patterns on the air car _were _very effective in making it uninteresting to me. I resisted the urge to use my tail to slap her out of the car and play with her, tossing her in the air and enjoying her screams. That disgustingly playful mind of the Mazerroo kept acting the devil on my shoulder, trying to convince me to give in and have fun.

She tentatively walked up to me and called something out. (What?) I asked. She cupped her hands and yelled, but I still couldn't make it out. It was like someone trying to yell at somebody on the top of a six-story building. I lowered a hooked claw to the ground, and she scampered up onto it. I raised her to my face, and I could see that she was terrified.

"I said that this is quite the form to be able to take!" she yelled, and I nodded my massive head. "Any creature with half of a brain would think before engaging you!"

(That's the idea,) I said as I set her down. (I'm going to morph back now – the Mazerroo keeps trying to make me eat you,) I told her with a mental shrug. Even from this height I saw her shudder and bound back to the relative safety of the air car. I began shrinking and couldn't wait to tell Jake how I was going to contribute to the coming fight.


	28. Chapter 27 The Trunsk Starport

Chapter 27

**Rachel **

Lok and I circled the spaceport at a wide trajectory, waiting to see what kind of enemy fire we'd draw if they had anything left to throw at us. "You think they're just scared to send fighters up, or do you think they're out?" I asked.

Lok grunted. "I would imagine that all their fighters are on their way to my home. If that is the quality of pilots they have, I do not fear for my people, I fear for theirs."

"Got that right," I said feelingly. This was starting to all feel too easy, and I voiced my concerns to Lok. Lok, who was by no means stupid, often acted as if it wasn't a warrior's job to think, only to eliminate the enemy. What he said after I stated that everything was too easy made me totally reevaluate his reasoning skills.

"According to the 'game,' as you've explained it, their warriors could all be cowards. Their entire force could be demolished, and it would not matter. As long as Crayak's team can succeed in killing Princess Amni'bel, they win. The entire planetary assault could be nothing but an elaborate diversion," Lok reminded me primly.

I could have slapped myself. "So us heading back to Xylen is a dumb idea. We're here, and as of right now, we're totally uncontested. Marco and I can infiltrate anywhere by morphing a bug, then go to battle morphs and kill their leader."

"Yes, sun-hair, but we do not know who their leader is," Lok reminded me.

I thought it over. We were in a pickle. What was the best way to deal with being in between a rock and a hard place? _Blow up the rock, the hard place, or both._ "Follow my lead, and pretty soon we'll know what we need to know," I said.

"Ta-tu, Rachel," Lok said, swinging his fighter into formation with mine and accelerating to attack speed. My idea was to do a fly-over of the spaceport at top speed, too quickly for them to fire anything accurately at us. If they had anything left to throw at us, the aggressive pass at their starport would have to make them launch their fighters to play tag. If that was the case, Lok and I would deal with it. I was assuming that they were all out of fighters, though, and after my first pass I figured I was right. My communications indicator lit up, and I grinned.

"What do you want to bet they're calling to surrender?" I asked Lok.

"No takers," he said.

"Well, ignore it. We're going to make our negotiating position a little stronger. On the next pass, split up from me. We'll cross over each other right on top of that bigger cruiser and drop a couple missiles into it. Any crew or workers left hanging around after our first pass are too stupid to live," I told him.

After Lok and I split the mile-long battle cruiser in half with some well-placed missiles, the communications button flashed faster and squawked insistantly. I grinned again. "See what they want, two," I told Lok. He grunted and took the call.

After a minute, his voice came over my helmet speakers. "They will unconditionally surrender, but only face to face to the human leader – you," he told me.

I balked. "The only possible reason they want me on the ground is because they'll have an advantage. As soon as we get out of these fighters, we're as good as dead."

"We can accept their surrender and possibly find out who their leader is, or we can use all of our missiles and drain our shredder batteries into the starport and hope we kill him that way," Lok said. Something in his voice told me he would rather not carry on in the latter fashion. I know _I _wasn't about to slaughter thousands of _anybody _to get one person. That would be a lot like the terrorists on Earth walking into a crowded bar and blowing the whole damn thing up to get at one target.

When I didn't reply, Lok came up with a suggestion. "Land in an area that doesn't have anywhere for ambushers to hide. They only want to meet with _you_, so I will remain in my fighter and orient my guns towards their greeting party. That should be sufficient to discourage them from doing anything foolish."

I shook my head. "That sounds too simple to work." I slowly changed my mind. "On the other hand, that's probably a virtue. Find me an LZ and trasmit the orders to them. Tell them I only want to talk to the person in charge."

Lok complied and directed me to an open area on the rocky terrain a good mile west of the starport. I landed and immediately wished for a shower – my hair was frowsy, I was sweaty, and I just felt all-around _gross_. I guess there were more important things to deal with than personal hygeine, but as I climbed out of the cockpit, I furiously wished for at least a toothbrush.

True to his word, Lok hovered twenty feet above me and kept his guns aimed at the tank-like vehicle rapidly approaching my fighter. It stopped about a football field shy of my position, and a human-sized creature stepped out and jogged out to meet me.

I almost started laughing. The horrible, terrifying Trunsk turned out to be little more than an oversized lizard that walked on two legs, like the Geico lizard. He was maybe a head taller than me, and his face looked more like a frog than a lizard. He was naked and obviously unarmed, and I was so amused that I extended my hand toward his to shake it.

He drew back from my hand as if it were a snake, and hissed a bunch of stuff at me. Lok, who was listening in through my suit's communicator, said into my earpiece, "He apologizes for not touching you. Their skin secretes poison deadly to most mammilian species," he informed me.

"Thanks for the warning," I said dryly. "Does he understand English?" I asked.

"Yes, though his vocal cords are not capable of speaking it," Lok replied.

I looked the reptile in the eyes. "Okay, buddy, here's the deal. You tell me who is in charge here and where I can find them, and then you go run back to your office and chill. We're done with you and your spaceport – just give me a name."

His mouth opened wide, revealing sharp teeth and lots of slime, and it snapped shut viciously. After a bunch of his snake-talk, Lok translated. "He says the Prime Minister lives in the city of Krassh, north of here. He warns you not to attempt to contact him. He claims that his starport is underdefended because of the war, but assures you that there is no possible way you'd get anywhere close to the capital. He advised you to go home while you still can."

I laughed in his face. "Your fighter pilots are terrible," I told him bluntly. "Three of us killed off a squad and a half of them with ease. Your anti-fighter guns got lucky and scored a hit, but the pilot survived. You're not really in a position to assume anything about me."

"The home defense corps pilots are trainees," Lok translated. "They were merely to delay you. Four full wings of experienced pilots are based in Krassh."

"I think you're bluffing, but it doesn't even matter," I said. "Because we're leaving now. Thanks for your help, and I hope you can put your spaceship back together again." I climbed into my fighter anxiously. If there was going to be an ambush, now would be the time to spring it. The starport master, apparently unfazed, galloped back to his tank-thing, and Lok and I shot away towards Marco's canyon. "What do you think?" I asked Lok.

"He is telling the truth, mostly," Lok said. "He would not have told you where the minister is unless it was adequately defended. He expects you to try and fail."

"It's adequately defended against _starfighters,_" I corrected him. "Not against morph-capable humans used to guerilla warfare. Marco and I are going to have no problem wiping them out," I said. A beeping noise came from my computer, an alarm I was unfamiliar with. I heard it echoed in Lok's fighter over his microphone. "What does that mean?"

"It's the sabotage alert!" Lok shouted. "Eject!" he punched out of his fighter, and I quickly followed suit. Lok was ten times braver than I was – if there was any chance he was going to save the ship, he'd have taken it.

I watched soberly as our fighters streaked towards the ground. I wondered if Lok had made a stupid mistake – there seemed to be nothing wrong with the fighters, other than the fact that they were without pilots and flying towards the rocks. My fighter inverted, and I saw something flash red on its belly an instant before it brightly incinerated. Lok's fighter followed along almost instantly. "Spiders," Lok spat, and he explained without prompting. "We have a similar design – small robotic bombs that latch onto power sources. When we got low enough to the surface and stopped moving, they must have attatched themselves to our energy cells. The starport is probably loaded with hidden spiders – I should have known," he berated himself.

"Hey, it really doesn't matter," I told him. "We weren't going to use the fighters on our mission anyway," I reminded him. We both set down gently and shed our anti-gravity descent apparatus.

"That's true," he conceded. "But how are we supposed to get home?"

I opened my mouth to answer, and shut it when nothing came to mind. '_Oh well. I'm tired of being the leader. Marco can figure it out as soon as we find him,_' I thought cheerfully.


	29. Chapter 28 The War Room

Chapter 28

**Jake**

I was in the war room, talking some troop placement strategy with the prince from the Matteo Tribe when the word came. Toby'd said they weren't far behind her, but I'd been holding on to the hope that the Trunsk would get stalled somehow. The young errand boy, still a child in any species' standard, skipped into the room. His eyes lit up at the sight of all the Taruff heroes he'd heard stories about gathered around the holographic displays, not to mention the reckless human prince. "Uh lama itaka mashinde coe," he said quietly to Prince Krish, Matteo's leader. His eyes glowed briefly.

"The Trunsk battle fleet is within range of our outermost sensors," he told me. I nodded and waved him over to the sensor grid in the center of the room. I liked Krish because instead of being ridiculously overconfident as most of the other princes and generals were, he had a grasp on the fact that lots of Taruffs would be dead soon. He didn't shy from his duties, he just accepted them more heavily than the rest of the assembled leaders. His strategies tended to lean towards the preservation of lives, and I gave his suggestions more weight than anyone else's.

"Wide orbit, synchronomous with the palace. It looks like you were correct, Prince Jake," Krish said as he pointed to the plethora of red dots that were on the outer edge of the planetary map. "They seem to be intent on a direct assault here at Amni'bel's palace."

I nodded. "Somebody wake up Amni'bel. Instruct Toby to disperse her _kertians_ as she sees fit," I yelled out, letting my voice rise above the quiet muttering and grumbling that filled the war room. I looked pointedly at the communications officer on station. "Get me a separate comm-link to all the wing commanders. Have them call in their forces and placements, and have them standing by for orders." The comm officer got busy, and I turned back to the sensor board.

"I will stay to help until they begin their assault," Krish told me quietly. "I have a duty to my people. I will be in the first flight up to give the _kertians _their time to get into position."

I looked at him as if he'd grown a horn from his forehead. "You've got to be kidding me! I need you _here_ – you're the only person who listens to reason and practices common sense."

He made a low, grating noise in the back of his throat that I'd learn to interpret as laughter. "All I am doing is telling you that you're making good decisions. You are strong and decisive. You do not need me to hold your hand," he told me.

A month ago I'd have blushed furiously and told him that's right, I didn't. Get lost. So long and good night. Now, I realized he was baiting me to say exactly that. I wasn't too proud to ask for help when I needed it. Not anymore.

"As commander-in-chief here, I'm giving you a direct order to stay. I'm begging you. I'll get on my knees if it'll help. You'll be a hundred times more valuable to me here than out in a fighter committing suicide."

He grunted. "I cannot disobey a direct order," he said slowly. "Have the communications officer inform my aide, Seku, that he will be in charge of my fighter wing. Only for you, Jake," he told me, and stalked off to look at a different display.

The comm officer relayed the message without me telling him twice, and I got back to studying the enemy placement. I wasn't worried about Krish – he'd be pissed for a while. Hell, he might never get over it. I didn't care if he hated me, though. His presense here would save a lot of lives, whether he acknowledged that or not.

Amni'bel entered the room and glided up to my side, as silent as a ghost. Without taking her eyes off of the display, she commanded the officer in charge of it to run her plus-eight grid. He typed in the program we'd worked up a couple of days earlier, and it overlapped the enemy positions we were seeing now. I whistled softly.

They'd messed up. We had almost eighty full fighter wings assembled on Amni'bel's continent, which the Trunsk were apparently intent on assaulting. Half of those fighters were spaceworthy, thanks to the tireless techs and engineers who'd worked their hands to the bone for the past week or so. That gave us almost 3000 fighters to throw at them before they even hit atmosphere. The plus-eight program predicted where the Trunsk forces would be eight hours after their assault, and how much of it was likely to survive.

Their cruisers, the most deadly part of the enemy force, were strictly space vessels. They had no sign of the anti-gravity devices necessary to enter atmosphere. The sheer amount of fighters that swarmed around the ships made me certain that they'd deployed every fighter they could field. They outnumbered our starfighters almost two-to-one, but we had an equal number of atmospheric fighters. It was a dead heat. Even if our fighters and theirs totally annihilated each other, all they'd have left to throw at us would be troops, and I was confident as hell that the over two million assembled _kertians _would cut down anything the Trunsk brought with ease. I flashed a confident smile at Krish, who gave a grave nod in return. I was confused – he'd seen the graph…why wasn't he excited?

He saw my smile falter, and called out to me. "Prince Jake, a moment of your time?" I nodded and fell into step with him as he exited the war room. He waited until we were out of earshot of the committee to speak. "I will take charge of the war room operations," he told me quietly. "You must take Amni'bel into hiding. That Teneel creature could be anyone or anywhere. You're the only person I know I can trust with this. Everyone else has been too caught up with the impending battle to realize what I have – this war means nothing. Even if we win by a large margin, if the Andalite assassin kills the princess, we've still lost."

I almost slapped myself. "You're absolutely right. Krish, what you've just done is going to make you into the biggest hero Xylen's ever seen. I'll make sure of that," I promised him.

He shook his head as we started back for the war room. "I don't care about that. I'm just doing my duty," he told me, and I felt a little fuzzy. Even if he was from a totally different species, he restored my faith that there were good people out in this crazy galaxy.

I entered the hectic war room, thinking of a good way to slip Amni'bel out unnoticed, and more importantly, unfollowed. I looked around the sensor board and couldn't see her. I started into the room, rudely shouldering generals and princes out of my way, looking for the princess. I saw Krish doing the same on the other end of the room. I resisted the urge to panic, to run, to arouse any more suspicion than I already had. I speed-walked to Krish, who met me in the middle of the room. He said the words I feared most. "Prince Jake, the princess is missing!"


	30. Chapter 29 Howlers

Chapter 29

**Marco**

(How long do you think we'll stay lucky?) Rachel asked me pensively. I didn't know exactly what she meant – it was probably just a rhetorical question to pass the time as we floated high above the Trunsk city of Krassh. Say what you want about the slimy freaks, but they sure knew how to build a good-looking city.

(Well, let's see, Rachel,) I started. (We've been recruited once again to save the day against impossible odds. We're stranded on Planet Sahara. Lok's baking to death back at the camp, and you and I are trying to figure out the best way to assassinate a Prime Minister of an alien nation. Not to mention the fact that just touching one of these creatures we have to fight our way through will more than likely kill us. Jake is doing his best to repel a superior alien strike force back on Planet Fuedal China. There's no guarantee that the creep we're risking our lives to kill in cold blood is even the dude we're looking for. You consider us lucky so far?)

(I could still be dead,) Rachel said dryly. I halfway agreed, but then again, this was probably only marginally better than death.

(That look like the Magic Kingdom to you?) I asked her, indicating a structure that strangely resembled Cinderella's castle.

(Yep. Guards at every corner. Some nasty looking weapons mounted on the roof. What do you want to bet our boy is in there?)

(My sentiments exactly,) I said, and began a rapid descent. We landed behind a big satellite dish, out of sight of the two guards stationed on the roof. We quickly demorphed, but the guards looked bored and didn't even glance in our direction. "Hork-Bajir?" I whispered, my head inches away from Rachel's.

"Hork-Bajir," she confirmed. "They're not exactly mammals, so the Trunsk slime probably won't hurt us too much." Her insane grin became the perpetually demonic smile characteristic of the Hork-Bajir. I felt a tail growing as I shot up, too big to remain totally hidden by the dish.

_Pop! Pop! _My knees cracked loudly as they reversed direction, and the two lizard men turned to look my way. Their eyes widened, then narrowed as they drew weapons and stalked towards me. One raised a device that looked suspiciously like a wristwatch to his face and hissed into it.

I grinned as I felt the blades emerging from my wrists, elbows, and knees. I rubbed the two wrist blades together, mimicking sharpening a knife. (Come get some,) I said to the guards, and they hesitated. I was about to let them go and enter the building from the roof access when Rachel bounded past me after the Trunsk.

(Dammit, Rachel!) I shouted, running to keep up. The two Trunsk looked around, but there was nowhere to go except for over the side of the roof. They hissed loudly, their version of a battle cry I guess, and ran at Rachel and I with their machetes flailing.

Ten seconds later, it was all over. The two dismembered Trunsk lay at odd angles on the ground, and Rachel wiped some translucent green ichor from her face. (Was that really necessary?) I asked. The exertion from the short fight had me panting.

(Oh yeah. They sabotaged my fighter and are trying to kill all of my friends. It was very necessary,) she panted herself. I didn't remember the Hork-Bajir getting tired this easily. I also didn't remember the blurry vision, and the random firing of strange thoughts…

(Demorph!) I yelled. (The poison! It's a nuerotoxin, and it's working on us!)

(On it,) Rachel mumbled, and I saw her form begin shrinking through blurry eyes. I felt the changes begin in myself, and tried to just stay focused on my mental picture of my human self.

A few minutes later, Rachel and I sat wearily on the stone, a good distance away from the toxic Trunsk corpses. "How the hell are we supposed to fight our way through these guys?" I asked, disturbed that I'd almost let myself die the ignonimous death I'd almost bought myself through ignorance. "Insects to find him?"

"That would work, but how to we finish him?" Rachel asked. I saw she was shaken. Not defeated – even at the worst of times, Rachel had a look in her eye that seemed to say, '_Oh, I've got another round left in me._' She was definitely not as cocky as she'd been five minutes ago, though.

My comment was forestalled by the door to the roof access bursting open. I blinked at what came out – surely it was a lingering effect of the poison. There, walking towards us in a slow, deliberate gait, were two humongous Howlers. "Figures," Rachel said, standing up and squaring off. She walked towards them, arm cocked like she was going to punch them, and I just shook my head.

The Howlers opened their mouths, and I cringed at what I knew was to come. To my surprise, Rachel actually punched one of them right in his open mouth. I almost started cracking up. That Howlers blue eyes shot open in surprise as his jaw clicked shut. The other Howler paid no attention and started wailing.

My brain exploded, and voluntary movement was no longer an option. The Howler's cry pierced my skull and shook me all over. I vaguely saw Rachel fall down, and then the pain redoubled as the second Howler joined in with a shreik of his own.

The howls stopped, but the pain didn't. I shook, wishing someone would just kill me and end this awful feeling. I saw the Howler Rachel'd punched draw a huge machine pistol and point it at her. Time slowed down as he pulled the trigger, making Rachel do a convulsive dance as the bullets penetrated her fragile human body. I watched with a sick, detatched fascination as the blood ran in patterns through the grout in between the cobblestones. Then my vision was eclipsed by a huge, black leg and I found myself looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. "My god, could this be the end of Rico?" I whispered as soon as the lame joke formed in the back of my shattered mind. The barrel lit up, and then -


	31. Chapter 30 Killing Fields

Chapter 30

**Tobias**

I perched on Hali's right shoulder amist the legions of assembled Taruff _kertian_. Some grunted in their own language back and forth, but for the most part, everyone stood silent, waiting. Flight after flight after flight of Taruff starfighters had passed overhead, sometimes so thick that they blotted out the sky. It was a dreary morning on the perpetually twilight world of Xylen, and cloud cover blocked most of the space battle from our view. Gaps in the clouds occasionally revealed tiny twinkles of light, signifying an exploding ship. It had begun.

Against the wishes of her father, Hali had taken up the family blade and made her way to the battlefield. She knew I would be facing death along with her people, and I guess she felt responsible for me. Which was pretty ridiculous when you stopped to think about it – I'd be in Mazerroo morph, fairly safe even from the strafing runs I knew were to come. The scene was like a civil war movie that Stephen King had dreamed up – a light, purple mist blew across the rows of warriors. Some figeted nervously with their blades. Others seemed to be in an almost meditative state. But everywhere, as far and the eye could see, were big, armed, blueish humanoids.

The explosions grew brighter, and I knew the Trunsk were fighting their way through the Taruff fighter squadrons to get to the ground and strafe the helpless _kertian_, trying to kill as many as possible before the dropships arrived, disgorging Trunsk warriors. (It's time,) I said to Hali, who nodded as I fluttered to the ground and began to change.

"_Kertain _of Xylen!" she bellowed. All within earshot turned to look. "Warrior Tobias is about to use the human weapon of shape-shifting! He has risked his life to acquire a Mazerroo!" She waited for the collective gasps and cheers to die down before she continued. I had already multiplied in size many times over, and some of the warriors were unable to stop themselves from recoiling. "Do not be frightened, for now the beast which we so rightly fear is rising up with us to save our planet!" The roars continued, and I wondered if _everyone _on Xylen was such a powerful motivational speaker.

By the time the Trunsk fighters arrived, I was fully Mazerroo. The Mazerroo didn't care about war or slaughter unless it was the one having all the fun. I had to forcefully stop myself from grabbing up the nearest Taruffs and slinging them into the midst of the rest, like some sick game of bowling. The strafing runs were not at all accurate, and I guessed they were more to inspire fear and panic than to actually kill the maximum amount of Taruffs. Worthless – the warriors of Xylen did not panic. They were afraid, but they kept their fear under control. Out of the thousands of warriors that I could see, not a single one broke rank as the Trunsk fighters skimmed overhead, their blasts decimating two or three warriors at a time.

A half-squad of them spotted me and began to break off, but then I guessed they thought they were relatively safe in their fighters. They converged on me and stopped blasting Taruffs long enough to concentrate all of their fire into the center of my chest.

I almost laughed. '_Worthless,_' I thought as my thick armor absorbed the shots. It burned, but the Mazerroo didn't care about pain. Especially now that the figthers were close to me. '_Playtime,_' the warped creature's mind thought, and I encouraged it.

I reached out, deceptively fast, and snatched a stingray fighter out of mid-air. I was like the Karate Kid snatching the fly out of Mr. Miyagi's hand. The Mazerroo wanted me to put the fighter in my mouth and chew on it to see how it would taste, but my human side won out. I wound up and hurled the ruined fighter at a wingpair that was breaking off from the engagement. As the one I'd thrown and the nearest stingray collided, they exploded in a massive fireball that engulfed the second fighter, sending it to a less-spectacular death by collision in the dark Xylen sands. (Steeeee-rike!) I yelled, the human Tobias pleased with the destruction as much as the Mazerroo.

The Taruffs cheered as the stingray fighters all broke off and headed back for space at oddly wide vectors. Several wings of our own atmospheric fighters provided chase, and I guess they thought our fighters had scared them off. I had a flash of insight as to what was coming, and I shivered even inside that fearless Mazerroo body. (Hali, get beneath me,) I said grimly.

Once the skies above us were clear of Trunsk fighters, destruction began to pour down from the heavens. Huge blasts left craters the size of houses in the place of the brave warriors who once stood there. A couple of blasts hit me, but they didn't do any crippling damage. Taruff body parts bounced off of me. The Mazerroo delighted in this new game while my human mind was utterly disgusted. (Come on, Jake…think of something!) I silently urged as the orbital bombardment commensed, slaughtering brave Taruffs by the hundreds.


	32. Chapter 31 Ax's Rescue

Chapter 31

**Jake**

I tried to concentrate on the displays and give out the orders that the princes and generals were waiting on from me, but I just couldn't do it. Krish was right. Without the princess, this war meant nothing. Nothing at all. '_I should be out looking for her, not sitting on my ass here,_' I thought viciously.

As if we had a chance anyway. Our starfighter pilots had fought valiently, but they'd lost. If had been just fighters, they'd have taken them easily. Their skill level was miles above that of their Trunsk counterparts. All that didn't matter, though, because of one thing – the Trunsk had capital starships and we didn't. As good as the Taruff pilots were, the sheer amount of laser energy pouring from the battlecruisers had crushed the formations, leaving the survivors scattered and confused, easy pickings for the properly-oriented Trunsk fighters.

I was just about to give up and take off to find the princess. To hell with this. Rachel and Marco hadn't been heard from in over two weeks. Obviously they hadn't succeeded, because the Ellimist hadn't appeared to say, 'Hey, you won!' The holographic representations of the Taruff fighters and troops cold-bloodedly tallied the losses, and I rubbed my eyes wearily. Not even two hours into the engagement, and we'd already lost half of our forces. We didn't stand a chance. Why was I wasting my time here?

"Sensor contact, Prince Jake!" the communications officer bellowed. I resisted the urge to bang my head against the arm of my command chair.

"Is it really necessary for them to bring in reinforcements? We haven't even put a dent in the first wave," I complained.

"Not Trunsk reinforcements, sir. The transponders tagged them as friendlies. They're hailing us now," he explained, a note of hope in his gravelly voice.

"On screen," I commanded, and oriented my chair towards the war room's main holographic projector. Ax's face popped onto the display, and I swear to god if it'd been in person, I'd have kissed him.

(This is Captain Aximili of Andalite Task Force fourteen,) Ax said, and I switched on the recorder so he'd see my face as I was seeing his. As soon as it started transmitting, I saw Ax visibly relax. (Prince Jake, I'm glad you are well. If you'd be kind enough to direct us on an intercept for the Trunsk force, we'd be happy to take care of that for you.)

I grinned broadly as the tactical officer sent Ax the requested data. "They've got twelve battlecruisers and they're swarming with fighters," I warned him. "What do you have to throw at them?"

Ax smiled with his eyes. (Under my direct command are the Dome ships _Overload _and _Graceful Strike_. We field four full squadrons of Model 22s between us.)

"That's not enough," I warned, aware that Ax had a tendency to become a bit overconfident when dealing with his own people. I knew a Dome ships main shredders could annihilate any of the battlecruisers, but how many did he really expect to take out before being shot up himself?

The hologram of Ax split, and a weathered-looking human chewing a pipe took his place. The background was that of a warship, with flashing red lights and all. "Howdy, son. Admiral Jimmy Silas of the Earth Expeditionary Force. We're in formation with our Andalite buddies. We'll clean up the mess up here, you take care of stuff for me on the ground."

I grinned. "Roger that, Admiral. Just out of curiosity, what are you fielding?"

He mirrored my smile, switching the pipe to the other side of his mouth. "Research vessels _Impending Order, Judiciary, Diplomat…_and _Red Feathers,_" he said, his grin turning a little more genuine. I assumed the ship had been named after Tobias. "Between the four of us, we've got those nice, new Falcon starfighters Lockheed and Martin started building for us. Voodoo, Reaper, Harrier, and Ghost Squadrons are composed of the finest pilots on planet Earth," he assured me.

I tried to can my nervousness so the Admiral didn't see it. "No offense, sir, but how do you intent to take on Trunsk battlecruisers with research vessels?"

"Your Andalite pal sent me a message a couple of weeks ago. Our ships were on a peaceful exploration mission, but that doesn't mean we weren't ready for trouble. Don't think we've forgotten scum like the Yeerks are still out there," he said with an edge in his voice. "_Red Feathers_ is pretty much a Z-space capable hangar that carries all our fighter squadrons. _Diplomat _carries our scientists, _Judiciary _sports our resident Marine unit, and _Impending Order _is our missile frigate. We'll make short work of these punks."

"I copy. I'm gonna transfer you to my second-in-command to coordinate with our forces." I switched most of the controls over to Krish's terminal. "I've got some things to take care of here on our end. Good luck," I told him, thinking he was far more likeable than most military higher-ups I'd met before.

"I don't need luck, son. I make my own. You go ahead and get done whatever you need to do. You start beating on 'em from the ground, I'll hammer 'em from up here, and we'll all meet and shake hands in the middle," he laughed, switching off the cameras. I began morphing the tiger after ascertaining Krish could and would handle things, intent on making certain nothing happened to Princess Amni'bel.


	33. Chapter 32 On the Trail

Chapter 32

**Jake**

I stalked through the palace corridors, searching for the missing princess. The human part of me cooperated with the tiger mind to track Amni'bel's scent from memory. It was something a normal tiger could never have done, which reinforced my belief that the abductor would be taken by surprise when I found them.

Two royal children, clad in the tell-tale metal head ornaments most of Amni'bel's blood relatives wore, chased me and tried to pet me. Distractedly, I said, (C'mon, kids, go play. I've got work to do.) When they ignored me, used to getting what they wanted and intent on playing with the strange, soft Earth creature, I turned and gave them a fierce snarl. They scampered away with a quickness that would have brought a smile to my face, had I been human.

Amni'bel's scent became stronger, telling me she was behind what appeared to be a wall crafted of solid obsidian. As I stared at it, trying to fathom how something like this could possibly be passed through, it clicked in my mind. The Taruffs were not a devious race of people. Secret passages would be simple to figure out for the much more wily mind of a human. The only thing that was odd about this part of the hallway was the beautiful statue of some long dead Taruff prince, fully clad in battle gear. Such statues were not uncommon in the palace, but they were usually placed by doorways or other portals. I mentally smiled and nudged the glittering sword out of its outstretched hand.

The sword fell out, and the smooth rock wall slid silently up into the ceiling. As I passed beneath it, I realized the wall/secret door was several feet thick. It was an engineering marvel to have it move so quietly into the recessed cavity above it. There was a medium-sized passageway dimly lit by flickering torches, and as I moved into the passage, the door slid shut behind me.

Such a feebly lit corridor would have posed a problem for most people, Taruffs and humans included, but my tiger eyes dealt with the darkness well. I saw to the end of the corridor, where an iron gate blocked most of the room at the back. I glided up to the gate as silent as an apparition and nosed the gate open as silently as I could…

…which turned out to be not very quietly at all. The ill-maintained, rusty gate shreiked as it opened, and I knew the element of surprise had been lost. I barged into the large room, ready for a fight, and saw Amni'bel. As soon as I registered her in the room, I sensed a presense in the far corner. Even my cat eyes couldn't penetrate the complete darkness the second figure was hidden in.

Amni'bel's eyes glowed faintly as they settled on my form. "Prince Jake!" she whispered hurriedly. "Come, get me out of here! The Andalite is still here!" I moved forward to comply with her request as the second figure stepped out of the shadows of the far corner.

"No, Prince Jake!" the second Amni'bel cried. "_That _foul creature stole my form! It is Teneel in disguise, pretending to be me!"

The first Amni'bel spoke acidly. "Stole my form, the way _you _stole Princess Jamei's form and tricked us all? May you rot in all the hells of Tar'noll, Teneel."

I stood there with my mind on fire. How could I be expected to keep dealing with impossible situations like this? I was pretty much a stranger to the Taruffs – how could I possibly figure out which Amni'bel was the real one and which was an imposter?

The second Amni'bel ignored the first and looked directly at me. "Prince Jake, I beg you. Please understand that it is I, Amni'bel. There is no time to waste – my people need me!"

The first opened her mouth to retort, and I silenced her. (Shut up!) I cried. (Both of you! Amni'bel…whichever one you are…I'm sorry about this. I really am. I can't tell who is who, so you'll have to serve yourself in this instance. Teneel is used to fighting with her tail, but you've killed hundreds of enemies in combat in your own form. Fight it out – whoever wins, I'll believe is the real Amni'bel.)

The first Amni'bel stuttered and grew angry. "Prince Jake, there is no time for this! I can't honestly be expected to waste lives while we fight a pointless battle that will prove nothing!"

The second canted her head and her eyes glowed fiercely in the dim light. "Perhaps you've just made your mistake. Prince Jake knows I would never back down from a challenge, so he would be inclined to believe me over you. It matters not, in any case…I will kill you and then go serve my tribe in battle," she said, drawing her sword from her belt.

The first Amni'bel also drew her sword, but with less enthusiasm. "Prince Jake, there really is no time for this. See how bloodthirsty she is? See how she's more willing to destroy me that she is to help her own people? You must understand that this cannot take place. I cannot allow this!"

(She's right,) I said to the first form, nodding my head at the second in a very un-tigerlike way. (You try to appeal to my natural aversion to bloodshed by calling her bloodthirsty, and in that, you messed up. Of course Amni'bel is bloodthirsty – she would not be the leader of her tribe unless she was. That was your mistake – you acted out of character to try and persuede me in a way you knew the real Amni'bel couldn't. You forget – I've dealt with _real _bad guys. Visser Three is at the top of that list, and compared to him, you're just mildly disagreeable.)

(Have it your way, human!) Teneel bellowed in thought-speak. Quickly she began to change, her stalk eyes growing rapidly as her hindquarters expanded behind her. (I'll kill you – and her – myself!)

(And that was your second mistake – not being able to hang on to the charade long enough to give yourself time to be able to fight,) I yelled, leaping at the half Taruff, half Andalite. She swung her tail, but the blade wasn't formed yet, so it did little to affect my attack. She realized that at the same time I did, and she tried to swing the sword still in her hand at me. Her die-cast Taruff muscles had already withered, however, and her weak Andalite arms weren't up to the task of putting the kind of force behind the sword she needed. The sharp blade cut my flank, but did little to really damage me. I regrouped and prepared to take her down –

-and Amni'bel, the _real _Amni'bel, cut in front of me as she attacked. Her blade sang, and three quick cuts later, Teneel-Protolas-Hedreish was not able to offer any more threats. "I am sorry, Prince Jake," Amni'bel said as she sheathed the sword. "She sullied my honor, your honor, and the honor of my entire tribe. I could not stand by and do nothing."

Again, I mentally smiled. (It's okay, Princess. You're safe, she's dead. That's all that matters. We've got to keep you that way, too – if anything happens to you, Crayak wins.)

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but bowed her head in submission. "I will obey," she said.

(NO!) a huge voice filled my head. (IT WILL NOT END LIKE THIS!) The dead Andalite's sword rose up into the air, as if an invisible being had snatched it up in anger, and with a speed I could not hope to content with, the sword plunged deep into my chest.

A/N – The end is nigh, folks. Within the next few chapters, you'll have your resolution. I'm excited, and to top it off, I've got hours on end to do nothing but finish this fic. My two exams today are behind me, and I don't have class until 2:30 tomorrow. I'm really thinking of finishing this up tonight! As much as I want to draw it out, I know it's not fair, and I want to finish it off while everything I want to do is still fresh in my mind. So be on the lookout and check for updates all night! Have hope, people. Have hope. Peace. Out.


	34. Chapter 33 Crayak's Mistake

Chapter 33

(No, no, no, Crayak!) the Ellimist cried as Crayak wove invisible threads to snatch up the fallen sword and plunge it into the human, Jake. (No direct interference! You made _that _rule yourself!)

Crayak, in a fury beyond control, screamed in rage. (I don't care! I don't care! _I _am the powerful one here! I will _not _lose because of the incompetence of lesser species! It's not fair! I want a rematch!)

The Ellimist knew deep down that this was it. Crayak was out of control, exactly the way he was millennia ago when they first battled. There was no way to settle this – Crayak had seen that the Ellimist was likely to win, so he broke his own rules and ruined the intricate chess match. He'd pounded his fist in frustration and scattered the checkers all over the place. It was ruined.

(Calm down, Crayak. I cannot let you keep doing this. You make rules, then when they are inconvenient, you break them. There is no fair way to settle this with you. You are totally irrational,) the Ellimist seethed.

Crayak turned his massive, red eye and settled it on the Ellimist. (You are nothing but a nuisance!) he screamed. (I will not let you stop me anymore! You're nothing more than a brake, and you've worn out! All you do is stop me from having fun because you are a stupid, moralizing fool! I'll kill you myself!) The Ellimist braced himself as he sensed Crayak gathering all of his strength for an all-out attack.

(YOU WILL DO NOTHING OF THE SORT, CRAYAK,) an immense voice boomed. The Ellimist, totally not comprehending the situation, gathered up all of his power and searched time and space for this new being. He caught a glimpse of it and realized that he'd been a fool. He'd assumed himself and Crayak were the only two supreme beings in this dimension. He'd never considered the fact that there could be interdimensional beings watching imperiously over their dimensions, much as he and Crayak watched over the humans, Andalites, Yeerks, Trunsk, Taruff, Skrit Na, Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, Kelbrids, Ri'shon'de, and countless other 'sentients.' In a second, the Ellimist understood that everything was out of his hands now. This new entity was obviously far more powerful than either of them.

(What? Who?) Crayak bellowed. He was angry, confused, lost. (No one tells me what to do! _No one!_) Once again, the Ellimist prepared himself for furious attack, but it didn't come. Crayak was being restrained. The Ellimist marvelled…not only was this new being restraining Crayak's incredible power, but he was doing it with ease.

(OF COURSE I DO. YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME. I'VE BEEN WATCHING THIS ENTIRE SHAMEFUL COMPETITION FOR FAR TOO LONG. YOU ARE A CHEATER. GAMES ARE FUN, BUT WITHOUT RULES, THEY ARE USELESS.)

(Who are you!) Crayak bellowed in impotent rage.

(WHO I AM IS NOT IMPORTANT. WHAT I WILL DO _IS_. YOU WILL COME WITH ME TO A NEW DIMENSION I WILL CREATE. THERE, I WILL TEACH YOU ALL ABOUT RULES AND FAIR PLAY. IF YOU DO NOT LEARN, I WILL DESTROY YOU. IF YOU DO LEARN, I WILL RETURN YOU HERE AND YOU MAY HAVE A REMATCH WITH THE ELLIMIST. A _FAIR _REMATCH.)

(No! I will not go! You can't make me!) Crayak screamed, but he was already being pulled to a place and time that the Ellimist could not begin to understand. In a matter of seconds, Crayak was gone and the Ellimist remained, stunned.

(YOU ARE WISE, FOR A PRIMITIVE,) the huge voice told the Ellimist. (I HAVE THE FEELING CRAYAK WILL BE A LONG TIME IN RETURNING, FOR NOT EVEN I HAVE THE POWER TO _MAKE _HIM REASONABLE. THIS DIMENSION IS YOURS, BUT BE FAIR. I WILL BE WATCHING.)

The Ellimist spent a short time contemplating what he'd just seen and could not even begin to understand it. Slowly, he shook his head and said one short human phrase to the now-empty galaxy – (I guess there's always a bigger fish.) He realized he had some wrongdoings to fix and set to work.


	35. Chapter 34 Home at Last

Chapter 34

**Jake**

'_Where am I?_' I thought to myself. I was lying on what felt like feathers, but when I looked down, all I saw was white. All around me in all directions, as far as the eye could see, was blank whiteness. '_I'm dead,_' I thought. I slowly remembered the sword plunging into the tiger's chest, killing me. It wasn't fair, but it had happened. '_I'm dead, and now I have to spend the rest of my existance in this white purgatory._'

(Ha ha ha!) an oh-so-familiar voice bellowed in my head. (Not true, Jake.) The Ellimist appeared before me as a tall human. He had on a black suit that clashed violently with the expanse of pure white.

"So, what's the deal?" I asked angrily. "If I'm dead, I at least deserve to know how I died. Invisible 'diplomats' Crayak controlled?"

(No,) the Ellimist said, deadpan. All trace of humor had left his 'voice.' (Crayak broke the rules and directly interfered. He was…disciplined. It is over. I have brought you here to grant you a reward for participating.)

I went to scratch my head, and realized I didn't exactly have arms. Or a head. But surprisingly, I was used to this sort of weird thing when dealing with the Ellimist. I narrowed eyes I didn't possess and said, "Yeah. Right. Explain."

He spread his hands. (I mean it. Crayak is gone, perhaps for good, perhaps not. Name your reward, and it shall be granted.)

"First of all, I want all of my friends back alive," I said.

(Done. What else?)

I gaped. Or not gaped. Or whatever. "You're serious!"

(Of course. Things are the way they are for you because of our interference. It is only right that I fix things for you and your friends.)

I smiled without a face and started listing some things I wanted done. It was a relatively short list, and after it was done, the Ellimist laughed. (You are quite wise, Jake. Perhaps as wise as I am. The level of understanding you humans show is astounding. Good-bye, Jake…forever. Good-bye.)

I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that as I was whisked away.


	36. Epilogue Part One

Epilogue (Part One)

**Marco**

I awoke in the cockpit of my Mako starfighter. I stretched, and suddenly spasmed as things started coming back to me. '_Rachel! The Howlers! We died! Where in the hell am I?_' I looked furiously around outside the cockpit, but all I saw was the dull metal of the _Messenger's _docking bay. I slowly keyed the communicator and said, "H- Hello?"

"Hi, Marco!" Jake's voice boomed over the headset installed into my helmet. It was all I could do to not rip the helmet off and throw it as his impossibly loud voice broke the silence. "Look sharp – you launch in sixty seconds."

"How? What? Jake, you gotta tell me what's going on," I pleaded. "I'm dead. Rachel -"

"Nah, you're not dead. We're coming up on Earth's atmosphere now. The crowd is going to be expecting a show – let's give it to 'em," Jake said, his tone still jubilant.

I shook my head. Slowly. It felt like Helmacrons were inside my skull banging tiny drums all over the surface of my brain. "Whatever. Whatever. I'll play the game," I said.

Lok's voice came over the headset and said in a deeper but quieter tone, "Greetings, Marco. Rachel, Toby, and I are already deployed in formation around the _Messenger._ I – we – would be honored if you would lead us down."

While I thought I might have imagined Jake's voice, there was no way my brain could have made up the formal and emotion-choked words of the big blue guy. "No problem. I'm sure someone will eventually get around to telling me what the hell is going on," I grumbled, automatically flipping the switches and pressing the buttons to fire the Mako's engines and release the docking clamps that held the fighter in place. Although it was impossible for me to be in the fighter – I had watched it cinder as I flew away from it in seagull morph on the Trunsk home world.

I deployed with the usual puff of air that was the artificial atmosphere caught between the Mako and the _Messenger's _hull seals. I rolled and oriented with the fighter closest to me. The cockpit was beginning to glow with atmospheric friction, but I could still make out the beautiful eyes above the breathing mask and the long, golden hair that flowed from the back of the beat up helmet. "Rachel?" I blurted.

I saw her look over at me for the first time and give me a thumbs-up. A blue light flashed on my communications board, indicating that what was coming over the headset was a private transmission. "Jake wanted to keep you in suspense, the ultimate joke, but I know _I _couldn't handle not knowing. So I'm going to tell you. We won. Crayak's gone, and the Ellimist brought us all back as a reward. That's all I know – that's all Jake told me. And don't you _dare _tell him that I ruined the surprise. He was really looking forward to _him _tricking _you _for a change."

I slowly grinned as I began to wrap my head around what she was saying. I clipped my oxygen mask into place on the side of my helmet to cover my moronic grin. '_Nice try, Jake,_' I thought. '_Of course, I'll _have _to get you back, but a nice try._' The glow at the nose of my fighter lessened as me entered the lower levels of atmosphere, and I keyed for a broad-band transmission.

"All right, Makos – the nice people at home want to see something special, so lets put the Blue Angels to shame. Grand Slam parade formation – execute!" There was a few moments of confusion while I tried to explain the maneuver to Lok. Rachel and Toby had learned it in the early simulations I'd put them through. I hadn't ever expected to use it, I just made them learn it as a lesson in fine-tuned thruster control.

The flight oriented themselves in front of and slightly below the _Messenger _in the baseball diamond formation they'd learned. With myself at the head, we'd wait until we were in plain sight of the surely assembled crowd, then we'd start rotating the fighters counter-clockwise, barrel-rolling the whole way. It was quite a sight from the ground.

A pair of much larger Andalite fighters appeared on my left, and a second pair appeared on my right. (Marco!) Ax cried, unable to contain his glee. (I can't tell you how glad I am to see you are well. Was your nap satisfactory?) he asked innocently. I grinned – Jake must have recruited Ax in on his little joke. How he convinced the normally humorless Andalite to participate was beyond me.

"That's affirmative, Ax," I said, mock-serious. "Impressive fighters," I told him, and I meant it. "Too bad that compared to _my _pilots, your boys are going to look like cab drivers."

(You'll pay for that remark, Commander,) Ax said, faking anger. (Twenty-twos, replace Mako squadron!) he cried in thought-speak. The Andalite fighters oriented themselves directly below our fighters, blocking the view of the rapidly approaching mass of gathered humans.

"Two, break right with me. Three, Four, break left and replace the twenty-twos…now!" we broke at impressive speeds and replaced the Model twenty-two fighters in a skillful imitation of their earlier maneuver.

(Nice,) Ax said. (Same break, twenty-twos, but stay on their wings. This is their show. Match Mako Squadron's rate of descent. Nothing flashy.)

I looked at the view from my ventral camera and saw that I was beginning to be able to separate individuals in the crowd below. A raised landing area had been assembled in the huge park in the center of the new city. Well, relatively new. I'd grown up there, but the buildings that had risen after the Yeerks' defeat was more to defy them than anything. "Makos, execute the Grand Slam," I said. Smartly, everyone began to replace each other and roll their fighters. Even from this height, I heard the crowd gasping and cheering.

I smiled, and we ran through the formation a few times before we broke up and oriented ourselves for landing. The crowd, which was nothing short of enormous, was going absolutely nuts. _This _was what I'd hoped for when I signed up to fight the Yeerks. I wasn't a celebrity anymore. I wasn't a movie star. I was a bonafide hero. And I was the best kind of hero – the kind with all of his friends to share the glory with.

We all landed and powered down the starfighters. As soon as the Makos, Ax's flight, and the _Messenger _were all settled on the ground, a bunch of F-16s flew overhead and dropped 'confetti bombs' from their weapons ports. The red, white, and blue crap rained down on us as I hugged Rachel and _much more _carefully hugged Toby. Lok dropped to his knees and embraced me, and I let him. Right now was not about looking cool. Right now was about friends. Right now was about _family_. These people had actually died for me, and I'd died for them. You couldn't get any closer to a person than that. For once, there was nothing funny to do or say. I cried my eyes out for a short moment.

As soon as Lok let me go, Ax stepped in front of him and saluted me. I saluted back. That weird little alien dude was awesome, even if he _was _a little too serious. Cassie barged down the ramp of the _Messenger _and launched herself at Rachel. Tobias – in human form – didn't wait for Cassie to be finished. He threw himself into them and it was just one big hug party for a minute. Cassie broke first and came over to me, leaving Rachel and Tobias to begin kissing. Camera flashbulbs went crazy when they did that, and I groaned.

Cassie gave me a questioning look at my noise of displeasure as she embraced me. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that now _nobody's _going to believe my story about me and Rachel sleeping together the night before the battle," I joked.

Cassie mock-glared. "Since you just came back from the dead, I won't tell her you said that. It would suck if you got killed so soon after being reincarnated." I laughed as Jake brought up the rear and Cassie backed up to give us a little space.

He stopped short of me, mischeif in his eyes. "So," he said, poorly restraining a grin.

"So," I said back. "Where the hell are the Dallas Cowgirls? I specifically remember requesting a cheerleading squad at my welcome-home party," I said, as seriously as I could manage.

Jake looked confused for a split-second, then the grin broke out on his face like water breaking through a dam. "Marco, you dumbass," he said, pulling me into a hug. For once, I didn't mind. I know I said it wasn't about looking cool, but I could see the cameras going crazy again and I knew I'd be embarrassed over the pictures later. That I was alive to be embarrassed wasn't a bad thing at all. Jake walked towards the president and several members of congress at the huge podium, but not without stopping first to give a long, passionate kiss to Cassie. I rubbed the back of my neck. Once again, I didn't have anyone. It was okay, though. I was alive, my friends were alive, and everybody was happy. Who was I to get all selfish?

As Jake shook hands and stepped up to the million microphones, the crowd went quiet. Rachel, Toby, and Lok, all in the same pilot jumpsuits that I was wearing, stepped over to stand with me. Rachel grabbed my ears and shook my head, and I swatted at her. I really wanted to concentrate on Jake's speech. I found myself hoping he'd screw up and make a fool out of himself, and the mature part of me told the immature part to stop it.

"Well, it's been a long trip," Jake said, the raincloud that had always hung over his head at speeches like this not present. He had a slight smile on his face and a sharp look in his eye. Not at all the depressed, grieving soldier I remembered from before. "First and foremost, I'd like to present to you my cousin, Rachel. We all thought she'd died at the Yeerk Battle four years ago, but being Rachel, she survived." I nodded my approval of that lie. No one could know the truth about the Ellimist. It would destroy human civilization from the churches on up. Jake waved Rachel up to speak, and she smiled and waved to the crowd, but shook her head no to the invitation to speak.

"As you all know, we've been on a top secret mission sanctioned by the leaders of Earth," he said, another lie. Jake's lies might be considered amoral, but they'd stop a lot of division and violence among the different peoples of Earth. "We successfully aided the peaceful Taruffs in repelling the vile Trunsk, and once again, peace reigns in the galaxy." He waited through the scattered cheers and polite applause, and Amni'bel made her way from the _Messenger _to stand beside Jake. She looked stunning, even for a member of a weird alien species. Her scales were polished, her gown was perfect, and the metal jewelry shined in the sun.

"Thank you, Prince Jake," she said loudly in perfect English. "We are honored to join our human and Andalite bretheren in peaceful trade and political agreements. I am certain that our peoples will get along famously, and it is my wish that ten years from now, everyone will have forgotten the fact that our races haven't always been acquainted with each other." Applause met her words as she stepped back to let Jake resume his speech.

"We are all here. We are all alive. Peace reigns," he said, and his good cheer disintegrated. "I want every person here to remember what I'm going to say next. Peace is a priveledge, not a right. We are very, _very _lucky to have it. If it weren't for the brave actions of my friends and comrades-in-arms, we wouldn't be at peace. So I want you all to remember how good you feel at this moment. You're safe. We've made some new friends. Everything is good and right. While Princess Amni'bel wishes you to forget this moment and think of us as old friends, I tell you not to. We are all different. The only thing we have unanimously in common is that we want peace. Once the feeling of freedom goes away and you get bored, you might think back to this time. You might think, 'Maybe things weren't so bad. At least things were exciting.' If you ever, _ever_ start thinking like that, all is lost." His smile returned. "I'm not here to spoil anyone's parade, and I won't bore you with any more talk like that. Just remember this day, and how good it felt to know that we're not alone. There are others out there just like us who want the same things – fun, security, peace…friends. The Andalites and the Taruffs are more than our friends – they're family. Treat them like you would a long-lost son or daughter. Rest assured, if any of you ever get the chance to visit Xylen, or the Andalite home world, that is exactly how you will be treated. Enjoy the celebration," he said, waving and stepping down from the podium as the crowd cheered.

I grinned and looked at Rachel. "Damn. He didn't screw up. I thought he'd at least sneeze," I joked.

She smacked me playfully in the head as her mom, dad, and sisters were allowed through the barricade and they ran toward her. "Don't forget, you owe me a Ferrari," she said as she broke for her family.

I grinned. "A Ferrari _ride_," I corrected her.

A/N – There will be a few more parts to the epilogue, so be on the lookout!


	37. Epilogue Part Two

Epilogue (Part two)

**Tobias**

The day after the big landing ceremony, it was business as usual. The president had a country –scratch that- a world to run, and the congressmen and senators had more important things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids – even if we _were_ heroes. Politics – image is everything. The politicians would have gladly talked to us and we'd have let them, but I guess they were all scared that they wouldn't get to us first, and negative public relations would be the result of the population thinking they'd copied the guy before them. The consensus among them seemed to be that they should ignore the Animorphs.

I was in the mall, fulfilling my promise to Rachel. We were _suppose _to be getting clothes for me, since I was now a human. When I was a hawk, I obviously didn't need clothes. Now I did. The simple solution: let Rachel take me shopping. Quality time with her during her favorite activity, although the shopping for me thing evaporated the second we walked in through the food court.

"Holy crap!" Rachel exclaimed, holding up a sheer, form-fitting, turquoise sweater. "This sweater is normally sixty bucks. It's half off right now, and I take an additional twenty-five percent off for the one day sale. A sixty dollar sweater for fifteen bucks!"

I scratched my head. "Um, Rachel? You _do _realize we're not paying for any of this, right?" Due to our hero status, we'd been treated like royalty. Everyone knew us, including the owners of stores, and they showed their gratitude by not accepting money from us. Like we had any. We'd kind of been busy saving entire species, so we didn't exactly have time to get jobs. We'd had offers from every major beer company to endorse their product. They were talking seven digits for a fifteen second commercial. Donald Trump even went so far as to offer Rachel and I a penthouse suite in his swankiest hotel. It would have been cool as hell, but we'd be too far away from the others. Instead, we talked a major construction comparny into building us a house down the street from Marco – after the government gave us the land, anyway.

"Yeah, but it's the thrill, not the money. Finding a bargain like this…well, it would have been like you swooping down on a plump mouse."

I sighed inwardly. The war was over and the Ellimist had made me human. There was no _need_ to morph – I was just sure going to miss flying. The fear of other predators, scarcity of food, and the lonely nights I would not miss. Flying? Well, just thinking about it depressed me.

Rachel's cell phone rang and she answered it. She listened to the voice on the other end for a moment, then said, "Uh-huh, cool. Meet me at American Eagle."

"What was that all about?" I asked. I knew it had to either be one of her family members or one of the other Animorphs. Rachel hadn't had the phone long enough to give the number to anyone else.

"That was Cassie. I talked her into picking out a bikini for Marco's pool party. I feel bad, because I'm working the sympathy angle to even get her here. Then again, I actually get to help my best friend pick out a provocative swimsuit. How can you feel bad when you're not hurting anybody and you're getting exactly what you want?"

I laughed. "That's the good thing about you, Rachel – you never have a friend you're not willing to do anything for, even if Cassie _will _be mortified. You always do what's best, but I think sometimes what you think is best for someone isn't the same as their idea."

"Come on, now," she said, taking her sweater to the checkout counter.

The lady smiled at us and said, "Rachel, Tobias. It's on the house. Come back and visit!"

"C'mon. We're all okay. Cassie's cute, she can bare a little skin. Jake has the right to know the ins and outs of what he's getting into, right?" Rachel smirked.

I spotted Cassie standing outside of American Eagle waiting for us. She looked more nervous than I ever remember her being in battle. Rachel walked briskly by her, not even looking at her as she grabbed her wrist and bodily hauled her into the story. Rachel's eyes were already glued to the racks. She went right to the back section where the swimsuits hung and immediately began surveying them, backing up to look at them the way an artist studies a painting. "Oh yes, Cassie…that blue one with the white flowers is _so_ you.

"Nice to see you too, Rachel," Cassie said. "And about the swimsuit…I'll trust your judgement."

Rachel practically threw the swimsuit into Cassie's chest. "Go try it on while I look for a backup."

"A backup?" I said, not knowing what the heck she was talking about.

"You know, a backup! What if this one snags on something? What if the fit isn't right? What if you accidentally spill something on it? You can _never _be too careful."

I laughed. "You might as well go along for the ride," I told Cassie playfully. "Rachel in full shopping mode."

Rachel spared a glance at me for a split second as Cassie wandered off towards the fitting rooms. "Keep it up, Tobias. I'll have you looking like a member of the Village People if you don't watch it." The funny thing about that was I knew she was probably more than halfway serious. Rachel's eyes glazed over for a moment, and she grabbed two more swimsuits.

Cassie walked out of the dressing room holding the top and bottom pieces of the suit. "Did it fit?" Rachel demanded. Cassie nodded. "Well? Why the long face?" Rachel asked, genuinely perplexed.

"It's not _me_," Cassie said. "I don't wear bikinis, Rachel. I don't even like swimming!"

Rachel led us out of the store. "Well, I don't really like to swim either. That's not the point."

Cassie shot me a sideways look. "What _is _the point of a swimsuit, if not for swimming?" she asked.

"Style! Sunbathing! Freedom! Don't you know _anything_? Swimming is the _last _thing you do in a bikini!"

I caught another look from Cassie, this one more amused than anything. I smiled back and held Rachel's hand as we walked through the mall. People stared, but it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Nobody mobbed us or asked us for autographs. I guess shock troopers utilizing alien technology were a little less inviting than the Backstreet Boys or whatever. I would sure miss flying – but even just holding Rachel's hand made me feel like I was flying again, and I told myself that being human again – permanently – wasn't a bad thing at all.


	38. Epilogue Part Three

Epilogue (Part three)

**Jake**

Ax and I rode in the limo Marco'd sent to pick us up at my house. Ax and I had been visiting with my parents, and I was relating to them the story of how, many years ago, Ax had spent three days pretending to be me. We'd left out the part about me being a controller – no reason to make my parents flip out any more than they had been. My mom still couldn't look at Ax without weird facial expressions. Surprisingly, my dad was dealing with the fact that an Andalite was standing in our kitchen pretty well.

Marco had called and insisted he'd send one of his drivers to pick us up. I'd said fine – Marco loved to take any chance to flaunt his wealth. When I was at his place, he loved telling me how much _this _had cost, or feigning surprise when I told him I didn't have one. Same old Marco.

As the stretch pulled up, I felt dumb for a minute – Andalites didn't exactly ride in human cars. Ax was already morphing to human, though, which was cool – Marco said he was going to have all kinds of food and junk at the party, and for once, we could all sit back and watch Ax go crazy and not have to worry about getting seen by some Yeerks. I actually kind of looked forward to it.

The driver, who'd introduced himself as Carlton, swung the big limo into Marco's ridiculously long driveway. Ax, who'd spent most of the ride standing on the seat with the upper half of his body out of the sunroof, climbed back down into the passenger compartment. "I think we are here, Prince Jake. Hee-yer. We are driving on rocks in front of a large human dwelling. Rocks. Ocks."

I smiled. No matter how many times Ax morphed a human, he still liked to play with mouth sounds. "It's Marco's driveway," I told him as we stepped onto the porch.

"Yes. Humans drive on a driveway. Greetings, Marco," he said as the humongous double front doors swung open and Marco swaggered out. I resisted the urge to bust out laughing.

He had on a luxurious maroon terrycloth robe with his initials embroidered on the back, like a boxer. His swim trunks were made of gold thread, and he sported sunglasses I remember him wanting back in eighth grade. An enormous cigar hung out of his mouth, and a highball glass filled with an amber substance sparkled in the sunlight. "Heeeey!" Marco grinned, doing a pretty good Tony Soprano impersonation. "Jake, Ax, the pleasure is all mine. Can I get you something to -"

He cut himself off when Ax snatched the cigar out of his mouth. Ax started to put the lit end into his mouth, but apparently thought better of it. He turned it around and stuck it in his mouth, but instead of puffing it, he bit off about three inches and started chewing. His eyes went big and he started sweating, but he kept chewing. "Interesting. Ing. There is a slight pain that comes from this. It reminds me faintly of cigarette butts, but the texture is better. Faintly. Ain't. This is a decent human food. Ood," he concluded.

Marco gestured us into his brilliant foyer. "It's not food, Ax. It's called a Cuban, and they're _very _hard to get a hold of. Lucky for me, Castro was a controller for the last twelve years. Turns out the Yeerk was the crazy dictator. Fidel is actually a pretty sweet guy. The trade embargo with Cuba was lifted while we were gone. I'll call him up and ask him to mail me some more."

I couldn't help it. I cracked up laughing, and Marco stopped to stare. Ax stared too as he bit off another mouthful of cigar, which made me laugh even harder. "Marco, you're friends with Fidel Castro?" I asked. I started to say more, but a wave of laugher so intense shook me that I couldn't.

Ax looked at Marco. "I believe Prince Jake has lost his mind," he said calmly. "Do you have any more Cubans to eat? Cyoo-yoo-yoo-bans?"

Marco threw his arm around Ax and led him to the kitchen. I followed behind, still giddy from my laughing fit. Ax in a well-stocked kitchen? This I had to see.

Ax tried caviar, which he declared to be not to his liking – a definite first. He tasted several other finger foods and decided he would like to eat the pigs-in-a-blanket platter. The whole thing. "Do you have any engine oil to drink?" he asked Marco between mouthfulls of bread and hot dog. Now it was Marco's turn to laugh.

"Come over to the fridge, Ax-man," he said. "I have a bunch of stuff that's made solely for humans to drink."

Ax peered into the refrigerator. "Coca-cola. Ola. Red Bull. There is water," he pointed out. "But it is in a bottle. How convenient to a creature with a mouth! Starbucks. Starbucks! In the mall I tried some excellent brown powder from that store! Powder. Owder. They mix it with hot water and wrap it in a tasty cotton shell."

I laughed. "That's the by-product of making coffee," I told him. I held up the frappucino. "This is the result. If you liked the coffee grinds, you'll love this." Ax stopped cramming his mouth long enough to figure out how to open the glass bottle. When he did, he uncertainly pressed the opening to his lips. He poured some frappucino in, and his eyes went huge. He chugged down the entire bottle in like point five seconds.

"Delicious! Wonderful! Full! I must have more!" Without waiting for permission, Ax pulled out several four-packs of the drinks and began tossing them back as soon as he could open them. Marco and I watched with a sick fascination as the boy took down bottle after bottle after bottle.

"Should we remind him to breathe?" Marco whispered. I was too enthralled by Ax's binge to answer.

Five minutes and nineteen bottles of frappucino later, Ax laid down on the marble kitchen floor, dribbling brown liquid out of his mouth. "I am very full. Full. Ull. I think I will go purge my human stomach to make room for more. Is there an appropriate place to do that?"

Marco shot me an amused look. "Ax, you're not supposed to do that. Wait until it goes through your system naturally."

Ax burped loudly. "Humans do not purge to make more room? Sharks do," he pointed out.

"Sharks throw up?" I wondered out loud.

"Oh, yes. When there is an abundance of California Market Squid during their mating cycle, sharks will swim through the masses with their mouths open. When the shark cannot eat anymore, it vomits and continues feasting. It is an interesting survival method, one born of the fact that sharks do not know when they will find another meal," Ax informed us. He'd absorbed the World Alminac and the Guiness Book of World Records, thus becoming an expert on all things useless.

"Yeeah," Marco said. "Anyway. Jake, get yourself something and lets go out by the pool. It's too pretty a day to watch the space cadet give himself caffeine poisoning in my kitchen."

I looked at Marco's glass. "What are you having?" I asked, curious.

He grinned. "This, my friend, is the finest whiskey money can buy. Can I have Wetherbee make you one? Please!"

I balked. "Marco, you're not even old enough to drink."

"True. But what are they going to do, arrest me?" he posed.

I'd never drank alcohol in my life. It's not that I thought it was bad – my dad was a good guy, and he liked to drink beer sometimes. It's just that growing up, I'd always had more important things to do than party. After it was all over, Rachel and Tom were dead. I didn't drink because I knew if I started, I might not ever stop. "I guess," I said. "Let me taste yours first."

I did, and after spitting into the sink, Marco paged his butler, Wetherbee. "Make Jake here a screwdriver, please," Marco asked, and as he left to fill the order, he called to Wetherbee's back, "And keep it honest. Jake isn't a big drinker. He just spit a mouthful of my Louis out." Wetherbee turned around and gave me a look that he'd normally give to someone breaking into his house, and shook his head as he disappeared around the corner.

"What was that all about?" I asked Marco. "Wetherbee looked like he wanted to slap me."

Marco laughed as we went out back to his gorgeous pool area. "The fact that you just spit out something that costs more than his car probably _did _make him want to hit you. The particular bottle that this came out of was a couple thousand," he said nonchalantly.

I gave him a sideways look as he stretched out in a reclining pool chair. "Why on Earth would you waste that kind of money on booze?"

"First of all, because I'm rich," he said, pulling his shades down over his eyes. "Secondly, I didn't. It was a gift from Prince Charles. He's even richer than me." Wetherbee showed up with a tall glass of orange juice on a silver tray, and I took it.

"Will that be all, Marco?" he asked politely. Marco nodded without looking and made a dismissive gesture, and Wetherbee bowed and retreated. I resisted the urge to laugh and took a very small, very hesitant sip of the drink I'd been delivered.

Mostly it tasted like watered down orange juice, but there was a hint of liquor. "Not bad," I decided. Way better than the crap Marco was drinking. I didn't exactly tell him what I was thinking, because I didn't want to get into a debate, but to me, a two thousand dollar bottle of crap was still a bottle of crap.

Ax stumbled out of the house and collapsed into the recliner next to mine. He was shaking convulsively. "Amazing. I believe that the Starbucks had a psychoactive effect on my human brain. The physical manifestation is violent seizures. I may have to demorph to rid my body of the toxins. Rocks. Tox. Roxins. Are those words similar?"

"It's called caffeine," Marco said disinterestedly. "You need to watch Beavis and Butthead."

"Beavis? Butthead?" Ax wondered. "They are animated characters created by Mike Judge. They are considered some of the most offensive animations in human culture."

"Marco _is _Beavis," I teased.

"Well guess who that makes you?" he shot back.

"I believe I will demorph now. I am experiencing some early warning signs of upcoming involuntary regurgitation," Ax said, and started to demorph. As his Andalite features resurfaced, he looked longingly at the pool with his stalk eyes. (I haven't seen a lake with water that beautiful since I left home. But it is obviously not a natural lake. Is it still good to drink?) he asked.

"Nah," Marco said. "There's lot of chemicals in it. Chlorine is a big one. It kills germs."

(Chlorine is dangerous to humans, as well,) Ax said.

"Not in liquid form. Chlorine _gas _is dangerous. It just keeps the water sterile."

(Oh. What do you do with it if you do not drink it?) Ax wondered.

"It's for swimming," I told him. "Just recreation."

Ax looked surprised. (The sole purpose of this structure and all of this water is just to swim in?)

"No. It's to watch hot girls in abbreviated clothing splash each other and wrestle," Marco told him. Apparently the comment went over Ax's head and he ignored it. Ax galloped to the edge of the pool and kicked his hind legs, landing with an enormous splash. He treaded water expertly until he was in the shallow end, where he could stand. "That does it. Now I can honestly say _everyone _has swam in my pool. Angelina Jolie, Jay Leno, Will Smith, and a scorpion boy from another planet."

I swigged my drink again. "When are the others getting here?" I asked Marco.

He gave me a sly look. "Don't you mean when is _Cassie _getting here?"

I played dumb. "I want to see Rachel and Tobias, too."

"Uh-huh. Anyway. Well, I told them that the majority of the guests would be getting here at around seven, so anytime from here to then they'll show up."

"Other guests?" I asked. I was under the impression that this was going to be a private gathering. "Who'd you invite?"

"Amni'bel and Lok, of course. Hali is on her way, but she won't make it in time for this particular party. Toby is hanging out with her Hork-Bajir crew, but she'll be coming sometime tonight too. I might have put the word out to a few other close friends," he said evasively.

"Who, Marco? You told me not to invite the parents because it was a private party. Who else?" I pressed.

"Just a few token movie stars, politicians, and pro atheletes," he sighed. "I've been out of the game for a while – I have to let everyone know that I'm still a viable option for endorsements and stuff. Don't worry, there won't be any media here."

I sighed. Totally a Marco thing to do. "Whatever. I don't have to put on my 'meet the crowd' act, do I?"

He looked at me, his face twitching in a amusement. He waited until Wetherbee, who'd shown up to deliever Marco another refreshment, had left earshot before answering. "Jake, you don't _have _a 'meet the crowd' act. You're the same old stiff no matter who's around. In any case, that won't be necessary. The people coming hate that stuff as much as you do. Say what's up to whoever you want to meet, make small talk if you want, but nobody's gonna care if you and Cassie just want to snuggle and make cute little noises all night."

Ax left the water and began to morph back to human. (I am ready to eat more food, Marco.)

Marco laughed. "Go for it. I'm gonna take a little nap while I soak up some rays. Just yell for Wetherbee whenever you need anything. He'll either bring it to you or show you where it is."

A nap sounded excellent to me. The sun was already relaxing me into the peaceful laziness it always did. "Cool place, Marco. Wake me up when people get here."

He didn't move – he was already half asleep. "No way. _You _wake _me _up."

"No. _You_ wake _me_ up," I said, drifting off.

Ax collapsed into the chair beside mine. "I will wake you two. Yoo too. Yooooo tooooo."

"Good enough," Marco and I said at the same time.

I was almost asleep when I was startled awake by Ax. "Wetherbee! Bee! Bee bee bee! I would like something to eat and drink." I settled back in and faintly heard the butler ask Ax what he wanted specifically. "Everything, please," Ax said. I chuckled until I was fast asleep under the sun.


	39. Epilogue Part Four

Epilogue (Part four)

**Cassie**

"I'm not wearing it," I called through the bathroom door. Rachel, Tobias and I were at Rachel's mom's house. I was in Rachel's bathroom in my new bikini, and I'd just totally lost my nerve. I was Cassie – I didn't wear bikinis. I wore overalls and took care of sick animals and fought murderous aliens. I definitely didn't wear bikinis.

"Cassie, don't make me come in there," I heard Rachel call threateningly, and I made sure the door was securely locked.

"Not this time, Rachel. You have talked me into some things I didn't want to do before, but this is _not _going to be one of them."

"If you're not out of there in ten seconds still wearing your suit, I will morph to grizzly and come in there the hard way. Don't make this any harder than it has to be." I analyzed Rachel's tone, decided she was serious, and sighed. I opened the door and came out.

Tobias was looking at Rachel in envy. "You know, you're really lucky you can still morph," he grumbled.

Rachel looked surprised as she stopped eyeballing me and turned her gaze on Tobias. "You can too, probably. Why wouldn't the Ellimist leave you your morphing powers? We did everything he asked."

Tobias didn't reply. He closed his eyes and began to shrink. "Whoa! Whoa! I thought…well, I thought I'd never fly again. Awesome! Oh yes, oh yes!" he yelled. Rachel chuckled and tossed me a bag.

"What's this?" I looked inside when she didn't answer. It was a pair of shorts and a cute summertime spaghetti strap shirt. "Oh, okay. Well, this isn't too bad. I can wear this."

(Hey, I'm going to fly over to Marco's if you guys don't mind,) Tobias said, still giddy. (I'll meet you there.) Rachel ran over and opened the window.

"Bye, Tobias!" she yelled as he flapped hard, up and away. She looked pretty pleased with herself. "So how are we getting over to Marco's?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said, pulling on the shorts and shirt. Rachel was already clad in similar clothing, but of course she looked a hundred times better in them than I did.

"I guess we could probably take my mom's new car. You know, the Lexus with the convertible top? But I don't have my license," she chewed her lip.

I laughed. "Rachel? You've manned the weapons station on an interstellar starship. You've flown a starfighter at three times the speed of sound in atmosphere. I'm sure you could handle your mom's Lexus. Besides, even if you wrecked it, they'd replace it with two new ones before your mom even found out. Add that to the fact that there's not a cop alive who would write you a ticket, and I think we'll be pretty okay."

Rachel continued to chew her lip, then barked out a laugh. "Who's talking who into things, now?" she asked me. "But you're right. How hard could it be? Let's go!"

One hour and two accidents later, we pulled up into Marco's driveway. I released my deathgrip on the plush leather seat and tried to breathe normally. "Rachel? Remind me to never, _never _ride with you again."

She laughed and got out, pressing the lock button on her keychain. "Oh, come on. You can't possibly expect me to see every single stop sign my first time driving. Besides, both of those people acted like I did them some great honor by running into them," she didn't bother knocking on the front door. She just opened it and walked in like she owned the place. Marco's butler hustled to greet us, and Rachel took off her sunglasses to look around. "Nice place," she said casually, and tossed the butler the keys to her mom's car. "Take care of that for me, would you? Thanks," she said, making her way through the house, stopping to stare at some of Marco's belongings.

I gave her a wry smile as she stopped in front of a flat screen TV hung on the wall that was the size of a big persian rug. "Marco actually did pretty well after the war," I told her.

"I see that," she said, moseying through the kitchen out back to the pool area. Jake and Marco were fast asleep in lawn chairs by the pool, and judging from the bright red coloration of Jake's chest and face, they'd been that way for a while. Ax was in a lawn chair too, but he was surrounded by several food bags, platters, glass bottles, and assorted boxes. There was an enormous bulge in the place of his human morph's normally thin stomach.

"Prince Jake and Marco!" Ax yelled, startling them awake. "The girls are hee-yer. I am waking you as you requested. Quest-tidd. I also require more donuts, Starbucks, Doritos, Fruity Pebbles, and Coca-cola. And some more of the fizzy water called – call – all – all – alled – Miller Light."

I started laughing. "You fed Ax beer?" I asked Jake and Marco, a little appalled. I had no idea that either of them drank, but I could plainly smell the alcohol on both of them as I settled beside Jake. "And you, Jake? You let Marco talk you into drinking alcohol?"

Jake smiled sheepishly. "I let him talk me into _a _drink. It wasn't anything special. As for Ax – we didn't _feed_ him anything. He's pretty much helped himself to anything edible he and Wetherbee could find."

"Edible is a very flexible human term. Erm. If something is edible, by definition, it is something that can be eaten. A lot of things can be eaten that are not meant for human consumption," Ax pointed out. "Cardboard can't be digested, but it tastes good and can be swallowed. Therefore it is edible. Can you have Wetherbee bring out some more food and drink while I demorph and morph back to human?" Ax asked Marco, who nodded.

Rachel counted the beer bottles beside Ax's chair and started laughing, and I squeezed into Jake's chair with him. It was only meant for one, but it was still very comfortable. He smiled, kissed my forehead, and said, "Hey, you. You're cute."

I blushed. "You're kinda cute yourself," I played back.

Marco leaned over and pretended to vomit. Ax, still mostly human, said, "Yes, me too, Marco." He wandered to the grass and really _did _puke. Marco looked over to Rachel, who was laughing too hard to speak. He looked at Ax, who was still hung over the grass. He gave a whole body shake as if to rid himself of the situation and called Wetherbee to clean up.

As Wetherbee took care of the vomit, Rachel whispered to Marco, "How much do you pay that guy to be your slave?"

"Too damn much," Marco whispered back. "The only butler in the world who gets paid more than Wetherbee here is the one who works for Bill Gates."

(Hello, hello, hello!) Tobias said smugly, flaring his tail and perching expertly on a chair. (Oh wow, what a day for flying! Thermals like you wouldn't believe! The only bad thing about it is that it can only last for two hours,) he lamented as he began to demorph. Jake cleared his throat and sat up a little, careful not to bounce me out of our chair.

"About that," he said. "Whenever me and the Ellimist cut our deal, I asked him for a few extra things. One of them was to get rid of our time limit when we morph."

Silence met his words. I know _I _sure didn't know what to say. Tobias, fully human, breathed, "You're serious?" Jake nodded.

Rachel started giggling hysterically. "Awesome! We could morph dolphins and go play all day long without a care in the world!"

Jake smiled his slow smile. "Actually, that was _exactly _what I had in mind when I asked him for that."

"What else did you ask for?" Marco asked grumpily. "I'm _still _not over that little stunt you pulled, bringing me back in the Mako fighter without a clue."

"Well, apparently lots of things can happen out there in space. While right now we're only a month or so from Xylen, we're a couple of years from the Andalite world because of a Z-space rift. I figured it'd be nice if the Ellimist would get rid of that rift for us, and keep the spacelanes clear of stuff like that for us."

"Anything else?" I asked him. He looked hesitant, and I knew there was something else that he didn't want to say in front of everyone else.

"Nope," he lied. "That's it. So, what do you do to entertain people around here, Marco?" he asked.

Tobias, now fully human, was lying with Rachel in a fashion similar to Jake and I. Marco looked at us, then at them, and said, "You guys look plenty entertained to me, but I'll fulfill my duties as a host. Welcome to Margaritaville," he said as he pressed an inconspicuous red button on a small remote he'd produced from his robe pocket. Jimmy Buffett started blaring away from hidden speakers and Wetherbee came out of the house a moment later with a tray full of big, frozen margaritas. I grinned and accepted one.

I took a sip and sighed in pleasure. It was the little things like this I'd always missed out on. Laying with Jake, sipping a frozen strawberry piece of heaven, among great friends…what else could a girl possibly want? I raised the glass. "To the Animorphs," I said, giggling at the sound. I expected Marco to make fun of me, but he just clinked his glass and repeated the toast. I set the drink on the table and snuggled into Jake. In that unguarded moment of pure happiness, I admitted something to myself. I'd always said that unless I was doing somebody some good at all times, I wouldn't be happy. But you know what? Laying with Jake, with all of my best friends hanging out nearby, being totally useless never felt so good.

A/N – There's at least one more part to the epilogue coming, perhaps two. Enjoy!


	40. Epilogue Part Five

Epilogue (Part five)

**Rachel**

All of us Animorphs had just kicked back and taken it easy by the pool until night fell. It was kind of funny when I actually stopped to think about it – it was the first time I could remember when I could relax. Since Tobias, Marco, Jake, Ax, Cassie and I had become a team of superheroes, it was the first time where we could sit back without having to worry about alien parasites gunning for us or some other threat to our collective health.

As the darkness descended on the pool area, caterers had started bringing tables and tables of food out and arranging them around the patio. Marco explained that he had a reputation to uphold as a generous host. Shortly thereafter, people began to populate the area we were hanging out in.

Let me correct myself – not just people. Famous people. Sports stars, movie stars, politicians, filthy rich businessmen…anyone who was anyone was showing up at Marco's party. I thought having all these people here would annoy me, because I figured they'd fawn all over us and stuff. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's fawning. Surprisingly, the assembled guests were civil, not at all annoying or overbearing. It was like they just acknowledged us as one of them and took it in stride.

I heard Cassie gasp, and I looked over to see what she was carrying on about. Justin Timberlake and Ashton Kutcher entered the scene, and I laughed out loud. "Cassie, seriously…" I started to chastise her, but then Ashton's gaze fell on me and I felt my heart skip a beat. Tobias bristled, and I resisted the urge to laugh. He had nothing to worry about. Just because Ashton was probably the cutest guy on Earth, he could never compare to what I thought of Tobias. I gave him a little hand squeeze to reassure him, and he relaxed.

Marco mingled with all of the guests. Jake was paying painstaking attention to Kobe Bryant as he described some basketball move. Tobias and Cassie went over to talk to National Forestry Commissioner, and I was by myself. Ax was the only one not currently engaged in conversation – he was stuffing shrimp into his human mouth by the handful, not bothering to take off the heads or the shells. I went over to tell him how they were supposed to be eaten when I was accosted by none other than Tom Cruise.

That's right, I said it. Tom Cruise. The guy handpicked to be the subject of all crushes. The guy I'd personally had a crush on since I was ten. I felt a strange emotion – nervousness. I almost laughed. I'd faced down full grown Hork-Bajir warriors. I'd slugged a Howler in the mouth – something that I was very proud of, by the way. In no battle had I ever felt the nervousness and uncertainty that I felt now, though.

"Hey, Rachel, right?" he said. I nodded dumbly and he shook my hand. "I want to personally thank you – and your friends. I was a controller for the better part of three years. If it weren't for you…well, let's just say I'm really grateful." He gave me a smile I knew to be rehearsed to indicate interest, pleasure, and camaraderie, but even knowing it was an act, I still felt faint. "If you ever need anything, call me. Even if you want to hang out or something. I owe you big time." He handed me a card that said, 'Tom – 555-3229' in his sloppy handwriting, and walked away to say hi to some other movie stars.

I was shaken out of my Cruise-induced coma a few minutes later by Tobias. He was looking at me oddly, like there was something between my teeth or something. He turned to Cassie, who was right behind him, and said, "I knew it. I was right." Cassie handed him five bucks with her eyes glued to the cement. Tobias grinned and stuck the bill in his pocket.

"What the hell?" I demanded. "Spill it, Tobias." I had the feeling I wasn't going to like the explaination. I didn't.

Tobias blushed a little. "Just a stupid bet Cassie and I had. Cassie saw…_him_…walking up to you and I laughed. I said, 'Oh, if there was every a time for Rachel to swoon, this would be it.' Cassie bet me five bucks that you wouldn't even care. Obviously I won, because ever since he left you look like you've inhaled formaldahyde."

I growled. "First of all, I don't _swoon_. I never have and I never will. Secondly, you're supposed to be my boyfriend. Instead of taking bets on who it'll take to impress me, maybe _you_ should be the one trying to make me swoon."

Cassie laughed and made that, 'Ooooooh!' noise you always hear from people after a cut-down. Ax walked over with a humongous bowl full of Jell-o. I mean _humongous_, as in five gallons or more. He set it down long enough to say, "Humans create such delicious foods. Jell-o is like a great piece of art. It is solely for taste – I read the ingredients, and none of them are sufficient to sustain life. I am impressed." He began to demorph, and all the little side discussions from the people at the party stopped. I became acutely aware that everyone was staring in our direction. All the hot little starlets in our vicinity were slowly backing into the shadows of their assorted boyfriends and male entourage.

I grinned. "Take it easy, everyone. This is Ax. He's an Andalite. You know, our outer space neighbors? They come in peace," I mocked all the 'important' people.

Ax, fully Andalite, looked a little uncomfortable. I guess in human morph, he'd been way too preoccupied by the prospect of food to notice all of the people that had arrived. I patted his arm and said, "It's cool. These people probably think _I'm _stranger than you. Don't let them see that you're uncomfortable – they can smell fear."

Tobias laughed. "You make them sound like a pack of animals."

"More true than you know," Cassie muttered. She hated stuck-up people too. I guess the only reason she was putting up with it was to make Marco happy.

Marco walked over with Lok and Amni'bel in tow. Amni'bel's eyes glowed when they spotted us, and Lok grunted loudly. He looked like he was about to burst, and I smiled. I liked the big guy because of his straightforward, always-happy-to-see-a-friend attitude. Just when I thought he was going to contain himself to shaking my hand, he picked me up and spun me around. "Sun-hair! My sun-hair! It does my hearts well to see you again!"

If I thought everyone was staring before, there was no doubt to be had about it now. I heard Kobe's low voice say to Jake, "If _he _starts playing ball, I'm going to have to start selling cars or something." Jake snickered.

"Greetings, friends," Amni'bel said to us. "We are not staying long, but Lok insisted that we make an appearance." Her glowing orange eyes fell on me. "I am coming to understand that not all humans are as accepting of 'aliens' as you, my friends."

I smiled, and Cassie said with a laugh, "Yeah, we're working on that. I'm sure it's mostly because they're insecure. A few years ago, they thought we were alone in the galaxy. Now they've been introduced to all these different people, they probably are wondering if there's some secret agenda behind every starship that leaves or lands."

Lok snort-snuffled. "You, sun-hair, and the rest of your friends are not like that."

I laughed. "We've had many years to get used to the fact that there's a bunch of aliens zipping through space. It's just like anything else – some you meet are really good, some are really bad, and most just want to be left alone. We're lucky we fell in with you guys and the Andalites. It'll make it harder for something like the Yeerk invasion to happen again."

"Speaking of invasions…" Tobias trailed off as the unmistakable, high-pitched whine of a starship reached us. The ship, obviously Andalite in design, picked an empty spot in Marco's ridiculously huge back yard and landed slowly. It didn't even power down as an Andalite gracefully leapt from the halfway-lowered ramp and trotted in our direction.

It was an older Andalite – not as old as Alloran, but definitely older than Ax. A puckered scar marred the beautiful, steel blue coat of fur on his chest. His fists were not clenched and his tail was lowered – a sure sign that he wasn't looking for or expecting trouble. His stalk eyes were vigilantly scanning the crowd for threats as he skid to a stop in front of us.

He saluted in the weird Andalite fashion. Ax looked stunned, then remembered to salute back. I gave him a questioning look, and he said to me privately, (Captain Breeyar. He was my brother's old fighter pilot trainer, years ago on the StarSword. He was promoted and commands the 191st fighter wing attatched to our main battle fleet. He's a legend.)

(Prince Aximili,) Breeyar said slowly. (I regret that we've not had the chance to meet until now. I've always wanted to tell you how highly I think of your brother. When I heard you were responsible for stopping the Yeerks on Earth single-handedly, I was not surprised at all.)

Ax stiffened. (Of course, I _didn't _stop the Yeerks by myself. My human friends have saved my life many times. To what do I owe the pleasure? This is obviously not a social call.)

Breeyar laughed. (Unfortunately, you are right.) He sobered. (The Kelbrids, who've left us alone before now, have taken it upon themselves to expand their space. They've been leap-frogging into Andalite space, taking over planets and setting up armed settlements. We weren't especially threatened by this, so we tried negotiating as opposed to force.)

(And it failed,) Ax said grimly. (The Kelbrids do not negotiate.)

Breeyar gave Ax a slight bow. (You have distilled three months of Council talks into one sentence. The Kelbrids took over a planet called M5571 in the Antion system. They encountered a race called the Orgona there and promptly enslaved them. The Council has declared war, and I have come to see if you will answer the Council's call.)

(Of course,) Ax said without hesitation. (What is my command to be?)

Breeyar smiled an Andalite smile. (The Chubar task force is to be yours. It includes six dome ships, four _Maurader _cruisers, and three fighter wings, mine included. I, for one, would be more than happy to serve you, as I never got the chance to serve your brother.)

It was Ax's turn to bow. (Let us make haste. The Antion system is almost forty days away. We must strike before the Kelbrids solidify their hold on that system.) Ax turned his eyes to us. (Duty calls,) he said, almost regretfully. (I must serve my people. It is what I was born to do.)

Jake patted him on the arm. "Of course. I'd volunteer to go with you, but I'd just get in the way. If Admiral Silas talks our government into throwing in with you guys, which I'm sure he will eventually, I'll see you on the front lines."

"We _all _will," I said forcefully. "I didn't put up with all that fighter training from Marco for nothing."

"I will not wait for an invitation," Amni'bel said to Ax. "Give me the coordinates of where you need the most help. I will send every _kertian_ and pilot I can muster. The Taruffs do not turn away when friends need aid."

Breeyar stared impassively. (Your warriors are impressive, Princess, but the Kelbrid are fierce. I'm afraid blade fighters cannot do much to help.)

Amni'bel raised her veil and began to speak, but Lok cut her off. "We will go anyway. To assume we will not, to even _imply _you do not want help, is stupid. Aximili has given me a favorable impression of the Andalites – do not ruin it by being ignorant."

I couldn't help it – I started laughing. Breeyar, who's tail was flexed so hard I could see the air vibrating, shot me a poisonous look and I shut up. Surely he'd been called stupid before. Hadn't everybody? I waved in a manner of disdain. "Don't tell me you can't use the help. The Taruffs have just said they'll throw in with you lock, stock, and barrel. You're lucky – they're better fighters than humans and don't have the disadvantage of disparaging opinions. They'll fight well."

(Forgive Lok's lack of diplomacy, Prince Breeyar,) Ax chimed in. (But as the leader of the Chubar task force, I agree with him, and I will be happy to accept any help they're willing to give,) Ax said the last part more to Lok and Amni'bel. Amni'bel lowered her veil and gave a grave nod.

"I am honored that you find our warriors worthy. They will serve you well," she told him, and Lok pounded his chest in agreement. "After all, if we are not united, it would make being conquered that much easier." Without hesitation, Amni'bel turned her back on us and walked over to the small knot of Taruff honor guard who were staying out of the way. She gestured fiercely and they fanned out, protecting her, and led her around the house to where her transport awaited.

After some more discussion and some sad farewells, Ax, Lok, and Breeyar entered the Andalite transport ship, which hastily burned away from the planet. Tobias put his arm around my waist and I let him lead me away from the stunned crowd. I guess it wasn't every day you witnessed an alien council of war. When we were out of sight of Marco's guests, Tobias spun me around to face him. He had a haunted look in his eyes. "Rachel, we can't let Ax go out there to fight by himself. He's one of us."

I laughed grimly, because I'd been thinking the same thing. I blurted something I was slowly coming to realize. "Yeah, he is. He's one of us. You've got to realize that it's Ax's duty to go fight for his space. He enlisted in the Andalite military. He chose this life." I gently rubbed Tobias' cheek. "We got duped into fighting a war when we were young. Not that I regret it – I don't. We fought to protect our families and our friends. We won. I know you think that Ax helped us when we needed it, so now we should take off to help him. Is that right?"

Tobias managed to glare at me. "Yeah, maybe. I can see things from your point of view. I know you'd never back down from a fight. But Ax is my _shorm_…I can't just let him go off and die alone."

I barked a laugh. "Alone? He's not fighting like we used to. He's got millions of Andalites fighting with him, and at least that many Taruffs. I'm sure, like Jake said, Admiral Silas will be heading out to reinforce them soon. We're not soldiers, Tobias. I've already died twice for this cause. I'd like to enjoy life with you before I let it happen again."

He sighed slowly, and he looked so torn that before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he relaxed into the kiss. It seemed like hours before we broke for air, and for the first time in a while he let a smile grace his features. "I love you too, Rachel."

I opened my mouth to protest…and shut it just as quickly. I hadn't said I loved him…but I did. He knew it. I loved Tobias, and he loved me. "If you do, then give us a chance. Spend time with me. Don't take off to fight a war again."

His smile faded. "Okay," he said slowly. "I will. You deserve it. But if things start looking bad, or if Ax ever asks for help -"

"I'll be the first one out there with you," I finished for him.

Marco's head popped around the corner of the house. "I hate to interrupt this…whatever you're doing…but I _do _have spare bedrooms in my house. Either go take one of them over or get your asses over here and help me tell J. Lo how I singlehandedly won the battle of…well, I'm sure you can help me make one up," he winked.

I slapped his head and threw an arm around his shoulder. The other arm went around Tobias. "Marco, I hope you know what you've just done. Yeah, we'll help you lie to girls to get them in bed with you. But you also just extended your hospitality to Tobias and I, and I plan on taking full advantage of it until our own house is built."

Marco's smile didn't leave his face as we approached J. Lo and her entourage, but his eyes changed. The expression went from amused to cornered in a single second. "I meant you can use a bedroom for the night," he said.

"Well, then, you should have said that," Tobias said, in mock surprise. "Are you telling us, two fellow animorphs, that you're going back on your word and are going to leave us homeless out on the streets? Oh, I can't wait to hear what Oprah has to say about this."

"I liked you better as a bird," Marco grated under his breath, and cheerfully greeted the pop singer. "Jennifer, I'd like you to meet Tobias and Rachel, two of my fellow animorphs who've just done me the honor of saying they'll stay with me. Until their own house is done, at least. Maybe they can relate to you how I picked up ninety-seven starfighter kills in the brutal Taruff wars."

Tobias obediantly launched into a ridiculous tall tale about Marco's bravery and skill. I managed to keep a straight face for most of it, but when Tobias got to the part where Marco seduced two young Taruff princesses at once, I let an involuntary snort escape me. I grabbed Tobias by the arm and tugged him away. "Come on, let's go find which bedroom we're going to live in for the next couple of months. I'm sure Marco's bedroom will be fine if we can't find one to our liking." The last thing I saw before Tobias and I burst into the house was Marco's resigned, sorrowful head shake. I laughed and said, "Oh, Tobias, this is going to be _so _much fun."

A/N – I know this isn't the grand slam ending you were hoping for. I'm not happy with it either, but I can't write this any more. I'm too excited about my sequel to The New Dawn, called The Kelbrid Wars, which you'll be seeing on ffn within the next few days. Anyway, I hope you had fun with this, and be on the lookout for some more non-stop action/adventure fun!


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